Not at all. But I understand where the question comes from.
Ironically, when I got more serious in the occult, I started picking up the first ritual I saw that was recommended to beginners (sigils), did one without expecting or believing at all that it will work since I was skeptical back then. Turns out it worked and I had never really read anything before that. Simple as that, and no need to read dozens or hundreds of books, though after that I did read a lot of books on occultism.
I would say it’s not necessary BUT it is useful to read a fair amount to get the general idea of what are the available traditions, what they do, how is magic conceptualized, how they differ from one another, hell you can even snatch up and try a few rituals from books if you feel like it. It’s also interesting to see the recurrences, what they all coincide upon and where they diverge, and overall it gives you a better theoretical understanding of the concepts, types of practices, what is invocation vs evocation, that sort of thing.
But reading will never replace practice. Better not to read and practice than to simply read and never practice; but ideally, do both, haha. Nothing can replace personal experience and trial and error. You can spend years learning how to craft a sword in metalworking, but if you simply don’t get to it and try to make one, you’ll never really know how to really craft a sword other than in idea. Assuming someone never learns how to make one but is determined to try to do it again and again, he will have much higher chances to succeed than the one who never tries.
And it often happens that practice is so widely different than theory. I have done methods that gave me results where it was not recommended or labelled useful to do so, and vice versa, I discarded things judged essential that essentially still work perfectly well without (i.e in general ceremonial magic of wearing robes and the like).
Reading books tell you what paths there are, but they will not walk it for you, therefore you should walk it, by practicing, doing magic, even if you’re not 100% sure of all that exists. You could even just hammer down your own path by taking inspiration from others, who knows. Besides if you can’t get your hands on books this forum exists and can be very instructive if you search well enough.
Your imagination and intent of action is the limit.