Stephen and Ayesha Curry Launch Eat. Learn. Play. Little Town Libraries
Stephen and Ayesha Curry unveil the first Little Town Library at Franklin Elementary School in Oakland
The Currys’ Foundation Will Construct and Maintain 150 New Little Town Libraries, Tackling Literacy, While Encouraging A Love of Reading in Oakland
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oakland, CA – March 30, 2022 – Eat. Learn. Play., the organization founded by three-time NBA champion and two-time MVP Stephen Curry and entrepreneur, host and two-time The New York Times best-selling author Ayesha Curry, officially announced the launch of their Eat. Learn. Play. Little Town Libraries, their newest literacy initiative under the Foundation’s LEARN pillar.
Eat. Learn. Play. will construct and maintain 150 new Little Town Libraries in under-resourced areas of Oakland, meeting kids and families where they are, and encouraging neighborhood book sharing to develop children’s passion for reading. Working alongside devoted community partners, Eat. Learn. Play. will distribute more than 50,000 free books throughout the community as part of this program to ensure Oakland kids can read anywhere and everywhere. The new program will extend the reach of this valuable community tool to flatland communities such as East and West Oakland, Fruitvale, and Chinatown that have historically been under-resourced.
“Reading is a crucial building block to academic success and unlocking lifelong opportunities, which is why we’ve made early literacy the focus of our LEARN pillar,” said Stephen and Ayesha Curry, Co-Founders of Eat. Learn. Play. “We want to encourage kids to read by making it accessible, fun and inspirational. We hope that these free, book-sharing libraries will help plant the seeds needed to continue growing a culture of literacy for the next generation in Oakland."
As a result of the pandemic, kids across the country have had to cope with distance learning and interrupted academics, disproportionately impacting kids and intensifying a large issue that is a focus for Eat. Learn. Play.’s LEARN pillar – literacy. Nationwide, only 1 in 3 kids are reading at grade level by the end of third grade. In Oakland, after more than two years of distance learning, only 15.4% of Black and 12.5% of Latino/a elementary school students are reading at grade level.
“In Oakland, after more than a year of distance learning, far too many students are reading below grade level, and we’re committed to doing what we can to change that, " said Chris Helfrich, CEO. Through our Eat. Learn. Play. Little Town Libraries program, our Eat. Learn. Play. Bus and dozens of other literacy initiatives and partnerships, we continue to work towards a future for Oakland where every child learns and loves to read.”
Eat. Learn. Play.’s newest initiative is inspired by and in partnership with LittleFreeLibraries.org, a network of almost 150,000 Little Free Library’s across the globe. The Little Free Library movement is a book-sharing concept that supports communities in creating fun, tiny libraries in front yards of homes and businesses for families to share books and develop their children’s passion for reading. The initial four Little Town Libraries have been designed and built in partnership with the Good Tidings Foundation.
The program will be managed alongside three Oakland-based non-profits and trusted Eat. Learn. Play. partners, the Oakland Literacy Coalition, the Black Cultural Zone, and the Oakland Public Library. Each organization will oversee 50 libraries, helping select, coordinate, and equip ambassadors for each library. Initial two-year grants will be committed to each organization, anticipating longer-term renewals. Eat. Learn. Play. is partnering with CarMax this spring to launch their first Little Town Library at Franklin Elementary School. Additional Eat. Learn. Play. Little Town Libraries will come to life with the help of long-standing partners, including Workday, Rakuten, and Kaiser Permanente.
The Little Town Libraries will feature art by the Illuminaries, a Bay Area-based collective of professional street art muralists and graphic artists. Eat. Learn. Play. has commissioned the collective once again, who worked on the art for the new Eat. Learn. Play. Bus, to create a fun and inviting design that is not only a celebration of Oakland, but welcomes Oakland kids and families to develop and share their love of reading.
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About Eat. Learn. Play.
Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation is an organization dedicated to unleashing the potential of every child, paving the way for amazing kids and opening doors to bright futures. Founded by Stephen and Ayesha Curry in 2019, Eat. Learn. Play. launched with a focus on improving the lives of kids and families in Oakland, the Bay Area and across the country. Rooted in three of the most vital pillars for a healthy childhood—nutrition, education and physical activity—Eat. Learn. Play. is working to ensure that every child in Oakland has access to the nutritious food they need to be healthy and thrive; resources to learn and love to read; and safe places and equitable opportunities to play. The organization, which is anchored around the message that children are our future, is committed to developing partnerships and initiatives that make a positive impact for generations to come.
CONTACT:
Eat. Learn. Play.
Tom Dietz
E: tdietz@id-pr.com | C: 303-506-2228
Stephen Baruch
E: sbaruch@id-pr.com | C: 631-388-1367