City National and Barnes & Noble Team Up Again For its 10th Annual Gift of Literacy Holiday Book Drive

Bank to Match Book Donations for Local Schools up to $100,000


LOS ANGELES, Dec. 05, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- City National Bank is partnering once again with Barnes & Noble this holiday season for a multi-state book drive that will celebrate the joy of reading and benefit area schools in California, Nevada, New York, and Nashville, Tennessee. This is the 10th consecutive year that City National and Barnes & Noble have partnered in its holiday book drive.

This holiday program is part of the world’s largest bookseller’s annual Holiday Book Drive, which runs from November 1 through January 1. To participate in the book drive, holiday shoppers can purchase a book at select Barnes & Noble stores and donate it as part of this holiday program.  People can also drop off a new book to any City National branch as well as go online at www.readingisthewayup.org and donate money for the purchase of new books.

City National’s Reading is The way up® literacy program will match each book donated between December 1 and January 1, up to $100,000 and the books will be distributed to area schools in the bank’s growing footprint early next year.

“We are very proud of the strong and lasting partnership we’ve developed with Barnes and Noble over the past 10 years,” said Carolyn Rodriguez, vice president and program administrator for City National Bank.  “We look forward to teaming up with Barnes & Noble each year for what has become a holiday tradition for both of our companies.  Over the past 10 years our combined resources have provided schools in multiple states with more than a half million new books along with other educational resources.  Helping children develop a love of reading is one of the best gifts we can give them, especially during this time of year.”

Sixteen Barnes & Noble book stores in California, Nevada, New York, and Nashville, Tennessee, are participating in this year’s holiday book drive. The stores include:

California

  • Barnes & Noble, Encinitas (1040 North El Camino Real)
  • Barnes & Noble, Los Angeles (189 The Grove Drive)
  • Barnes & Noble, Long Beach (7651 Carson Street)
  • Barnes & Noble, Corte Madera (313 Town Center)
  • Barnes & Noble, Mira Mesa (10775 Westview Parkway)
  • Barnes & Noble, Newport Beach (401 Newport Center Drive, #A215)
  • Barnes & Noble, Point Loma (Bookstar, 3150 Rosecrans Place)
  • Barnes & Noble, Riverside (3485 Tyler Street)
  • Barnes & Noble, San Diego (7610 Hazard Center Drive)
  • Barnes & Noble, San Jose (3600 Stevens Creek Blvd.)
  • Barnes & Noble, Santee (9938 Mission Gorge Road)

Nevada

  • Barnes & Noble, Reno (5555 S. Virginia Street)
  • Barnes & Noble, Las Vegas (8915 West Charleston Blvd.)
  • Barnes & Noble, Las Vegas (2191 N. Rainbow Blvd.)

New York

  • Barnes & Noble, New York City (555 5th Avenue)

Tennessee

  • Barnes & Noble, Brentwood (1701 Mallory Lane)

About Reading is The way up®

Originally established to help improve the education of California’s future leaders, City National in April 2002 launched the multi-faceted Reading is The way up initiative to restock the state’s school library system. The program has since been expanded to include all areas where the bank has a presence.  Since its inception, the award-winning program has:

  • Donated more than 500,000 books to California, Nevada, New York, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia school libraries.
  • Awarded over $1.4 million to teachers at elementary, middle and high schools for creative literacy projects.
  • Received the 2005 President’s Volunteer Service Award, the 2005 Corporate Philanthropy Award from the Los Angeles Public Library, the 2006 Corporate Award from the Getty House Foundation, the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Corporate Citizen Award, and honored as the 2007 Corporate Visionary Partner by the Wonder of Reading.
  • Received the 2013 Innovations Reading Prize Award presented by the National Book Foundation.
  • Received the 2013 Outstanding Corporation of the Year Award presented by the Clark County School District-Community Partnership Program in Las Vegas, NV.
  • Received the 2013 Angel Light Foundation Award for excellence in community service and educational outreach presented by the Angel Light Academy in Orange County, CA.

The Reading is the Way Up Fund is a 501(c)(3) administered by the California Community Foundation.  For more information, visit www.readingisthewayup.org.

About City National

With $48.7 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 73 offices, including 18 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta and Minneapolis. In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $62.2 billion in client investment assets.

City National is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of North America’s leading diversified financial services companies. RBC serves more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the United States and 35 other countries.

For more information about City National, visit the company’s website at cnb.com.

Media Contact:
Paul C. Stowell, City National Bank, 213.673.7602
Paul.stowell@cnb.com