Stephen and Ayesha Curry on the red carpet at the 2022 ESPYs Source: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty
From building community libraries to donating thousands of books to underserved schools throughout the city of Oakland, empowering youth through literature has been at the core of NBA star Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha’s philanthropic efforts. For their latest social good initiative, the couple has teamed up with the commerce brand Rakuten to refurbish a reading space for youth.
The reimagined library will live inside Oakland’s Garfield Elementary School. The school, one of the city’s largest and oldest elementary institutions, has operated without a library for a decade. The shelves of the new space will be stocked with pieces of literature penned by diverse authors and stories in which students can see themselves reflected.
Edgar Rodriguez-Ramirez, who serves as the principal at Garfield Elementary School, says the new library will help youngsters expand their love of literature. “We have been working toward a new library for more than 10 years and are beyond grateful for the generous support and donation from Rakuten, Stephen Curry and Eat. Learn. Play. We are thrilled that it will take this project over the finish line for our students,” he shared in a statement. “This new library will provide our students access to culturally diverse books that tell untold stories of our community and will be a safe space for our kids to continue to foster their love of reading and explore their creativity.”
Rakuten Chief Marketing Officer Dana Marineau added the initiative will support “Garfield Elementary’s incredible commitment to making reading fun and accessible for its students.”
Rakuten, alongside Stephen Curry and his foundation “Eat. Learn. Play”, recently teamed up to successfully reopen Garfield Elementary’s school library after more than 10 years without one.@eatlearnplay @StephenCurry30https://t.co/ef7nSt9anh
— Rakuten Group (@RakutenGroup) August 22, 2022
News about the library comes months after the Currys teamed up with the neighborhood book exchange nonprofit Little Free Library to build libraries in communities like Fruitvale, West and East Oakland and Chinatown. Through the project, dubbed Little Town Libraries, they aimed to distribute over 50,000 free books.
“We want to encourage kids to read by making it accessible, fun and inspirational,” the couple shared. “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.”
SEE ALSO:
Stephen And Ayesha Curry Advance Efforts To Empower Youth Through Literature
Stephen And Ayesha Curry Donate Books To Underserved Students In Oakland
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