LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With support from City National Bank and The Wonder of Reading, the Sixth Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles will unveil a new library funded in part with $15,000 from City National at a grand opening on Oct. 10.
Sixth Avenue Elementary School serves nearly 800 primarily low-income students, in grades K-5. An estimated 90 percent of the student body participates in the free and reduced price lunch program. Nearly half of the students are English-language learners.
"We are so pleased to support this new library and help encourage literacy in Los Angeles," said Kevin Dunigan, executive vice president, Core Banking, for Los Angeles-based City National Bank. "This new library will help cultivate a genuine appreciation for reading."
A renovated library space that includes story steps for group reading; individual workstations for tutoring; a cozy cove for quiet reading; new bookshelves, paint, and carpet; and $10,000 worth of new books will make the library a place to promote a love of reading. It will also encourage English-language development in students for whom English is their second language.
The donation is part of City National's Reading Is the Way Up program. Formed in 2002, the program has donated more than 35,000 books to California and Nevada schools, helped open 20 new libraries, and provided more than 250 teachers with literacy grants ranging from $500 to $1,500. City National Bank has donated more than $2.9 million in education-related grants. For more information, visit www.readingisthewayup.org.
To support the Sixth Avenue Elementary School library, City National donated $15,000 to The Wonder of Reading, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring in children the love of reading. City National has supported The Wonder of Reading for the past seven years.
"We are excited to be working with our outstanding partners, City National Bank and Sixth Avenue Elementary School," said Kriste Dragon, executive director of The Wonder of Reading. "Together we will provide the students at Sixth Avenue with access to a welcoming, well-stocked library and individualized reading encouragement from family members and volunteer mentors."
About The Wonder of Reading
The Wonder of Reading exists to inspire in children the love of reading. We form partnerships with elementary schools to implement our unique 3R Program (Renovate, Restock, and Read), together transforming school libraries into vibrant centers of learning and bringing reading resources to students throughout Los Angeles County. Today our libraries are in 195 public elementary schools. In 2008, more than 130,000 students are benefiting from access to welcoming, well-stocked libraries, and so far this year, more than 200 community volunteers have been trained to read one-on-one with struggling students.
For more information about our programs and how you can support our efforts in the Los Angeles community, visit www.wonderofreading.org or call Kim Brettschneider at 323.634.7103.
About City National
City National Bank is the wholly owned subsidiary of City National Corporation (NYSE:CYN). It is backed by $16.3 billion in total assets, and provides banking, investment and trust services through 62 offices, including 15 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada and New York City. The company and its eight majority-owned investment affiliates manage or administer $53.4 billion in client investment assets, including nearly $34 billion under direct management.
For more information about City National, visit the company's Website at cnb.com.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: Sixth Avenue Elementary School 3109 6th Ave., Los Angeles. Library grand opening: Friday, Oct. 10 at 9:45 a.m.