It's not expected in my world. It's not even expected that everyone will learn to read. Learning more than a trade is often reserved for those in the nobility or those merchants with enough money to fake nobility. At least among the humans. I know Dwarven society has different rules and I believe even the dusters are trained in the basics of reading and writing if only not to dishonor the Stone they come from. But humans and elves don't live in their cities. It's a different society with vastly different expectations. City elves rarely have the opportunity to earn a living skill beyond service jobs and among the Dalish all their learning is passed down through oral tradition. Books are rare enough that clans may only own one or two.

Mages of the tower live differently, of course, but we're the exception. All we have to pass the time is furthering our education.