NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- City National Bank's Reading is The way up® nonprofit literacy program, in partnership with Barnes & Noble, is donating over 20,000 new books to schools in New York, California and Nevada in an effort to promote literacy and support the local community.
The donation marks an expansion of Los Angeles-based City National's literacy program from 19 schools in its footprint last year to 27 schools in 2011. The bank is committed to helping and supporting the communities it serves.
The donation is the result of a Holiday Book Drive from December 1 through January 1 at Barnes & Noble, the world's largest book seller, in partnership with Reading is The way up at City National. Customers at 15 Barnes & Noble stores in New York, California and Nevada donated more than 10,000 books during the month long book drive, while City National donated the remaining number of books through a matching donation of over $50,000.
"This year's holiday book drive collected the most books ever in the three years that we've been partnering with Barnes & Noble on this wonderful educational outreach program," said Carolyn Rodriguez, vice president at City National and head of Reading is The way up. "There's perhaps no greater gift that we can give a child than the gift of reading and developing a love of books."
"We thoroughly enjoy partnering with City National Bank on what has become one of the most enjoyable community outreach programs we do each year," said Patrick Malloy, corporate and institutional sales manager with Barnes & Noble in New York City. "Our customers look forward to supporting this book drive by choosing their favorite children's books and donating it to this worthy cause, as evidenced by the record number of books we collected this year."
The recipients in New York receiving books and matching donations include: Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx at 730 Bryant Avenue, which will receive 1,000 books and $6,675; and Visiting Nurse Services of New York in Manhattan at 101 E. 70th Street, which will receive 700 books and $4,675.
City National will make a donation presentation to Hyde Leadership Charter School on February 1, 2011 at 8:30 a.m. Media is welcome to attend this event.
About City National
City National Bank is the wholly owned subsidiary of City National Corporation (NYSE:CYN). It is backed by $21.4 billion in total assets, and provides banking, investment and trust services through 75 offices, including 17 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada and New York City. The company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $58.5 billion in client investment assets, including nearly $37 billion under direct management.
For more information about City National, visit the company's Website at cnb.com.
The City National Bank logo is available at
About Reading is The way up®
Seeking to better the education of our future leaders, City National in April 2002 launched a multi-faceted initiative to restock the state's school library system. Since then, the award-winning program has:
- Donated more than 80,000 books to California, New York and Nevada school libraries.
- Awarded over $400,000 to teachers at elementary, middle and high schools for creative literacy projects.
- Helped open 21 new elementary school libraries through its partnership with The Wonder of Reading in Los Angeles.
The Reading is The way up Fund is a 501(c)(3) administered by the California Community Foundation, and serves as a funding resource to purchase books for school libraries in California. For more information, visit .
CONTACT: Media Contact: Paul C. Stowell, City National Bank, 213.673.7602 paul.stowell@cnb.com