LOS ANGELES, Feb. 2, 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 California, Nevada and New York 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 California, Nevada and New York 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 Jan Lindstrom Valerio, regional community relations manager with Barnes & Noble in Santa Monica. "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."
California schools that will receive books include: Environmental Science and Technology High School in Los Angeles; De Anza Middle School and Sheridan Way Elementary in Ventura; Wilson and Everett Elementary Schools in Orange County; Felicita, Doyle, Spreckels, Pomerado and Dewey Elementary Schools, Standley Middle and University High Schools, and Ocean Air School in the San Diego area; Foothill Elementary in Riverside; St. Vincent School for Boys and St. Vincent Home for Girls in San Rafael; Springhill and Murwood Elementary in the Walnut Creek area; and Robert Sanders and O.B. Whaley Elementary Schools in San Jose.
City National and Barnes & Noble will be making donation presentations to the following schools throughout California. Media is welcome to attend these events.
- February 2, 2011 at 8:30 a.m. at Everett Rea Elementary School in Costa Mesa at 661 Hamilton Avenue – Receiving 780 books and $5,666
- February 14, 2011 at 7:45 a.m. at Environmental Science and Technology High School in Los Angeles at 2930 Fletcher Drive – Receiving 500 books and $5,000
- March 10, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. at Whaley Elementary School in San Jose at 2655 Alvin Avenue – Receiving 281 books and $2,050
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