City National Bank, Barnes & Noble Donate Over 52,000 Books to Schools and Nonprofits in Four States

City National Bank's "Reading is The way up" nonprofit literacy program, in partnership with Barnes & Noble, today announced the donation of 52,000 new books with a total value of more than $150,000 to 28 elementary and middle schools, as well as a handful of nonprofit groups, in California, Nevada, New York City, and Nashville, Tennessee.

In an effort to promote literacy and support the local community, the book donations were part of the 6th Annual Holiday Book Drive last December at Barnes & Noble, the world's largest book seller, in partnership with the Reading is The way up program at City National, which is also celebrating its 60th Anniversary this year.

Customers at 16 Barnes & Noble stores in four states donated over 26,000 new books, which City National matched with $75,000 for an additional 26,000 new books to be purchased through Barnes & Noble by the school librarians at each of the schools receiving books. This donation also set a record for the number of books ever donated through this holiday program.

"Every year this program just seems to get better and better, even with today's economic challenges," said Carolyn Rodriguez, vice president and program administrator for City National Bank. "Literacy is at the heart of learning and City National is proud to partner with Barnes & Noble on this holiday book donation program. Since the inception of our Reading is The way up literacy program in 2002, we have now donated more than 225,000 new books to schools, libraries and nonprofit groups in five states."

The City National and Barnes & Noble Holiday Book Drive ran from December 1 through January 1 and included 16 stores in the four states where the bank has a presence. City National and Barnes & Noble representatives are presenting the book and monetary donations to school administrators and students at school assemblies over the next several weeks. The bank's literacy mascot "Blue" is also taking part in many of these donation presentations.

About City National: City National Corporation has $29.7 billion in assets. The company's wholly owned subsidiary, City National Bank, provides banking, investment and trust services through 77 offices, including 16 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville and Atlanta. City National and its investment affiliates manage or administer $64.7 billion in client investment assets, including $45.0 billion under direct management.

For more information about City National, visit the company's Website at cnb.com.

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 225,000 books to California, Nevada, New York, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia school libraries.
-- Awarded close to $600,000 to teachers at elementary, middle and high schools for creative literacy projects.
-- Awarded $10,000 to the Children's Defense Fund-California Urban Lights Freedom Schools program in support of after school enrichment curriculum.
-- 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.

Following is a list of schools and nonprofit groups in the four states receiving new books and monetary support from City National and Barnes & Noble:

California

-- College Park Elementary, Costa Mesa
-- St. Joachim Catholic School, Costa Mesa
-- Mar Vista Family Center, Culver City
-- Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School, Irvine
-- Hobart Blvd. Elementary, Los Angeles
-- Hope Street Margolis Family Center, Los Angeles
-- Boys and Girls Club of the Los Angeles Harbor, Long Beach
-- Miller Children's Hospital, Long Beach
-- The Community School for Education, Oakland
-- Arlanza Elementary, Riverside
-- Dewey Elementary, San Diego
-- Sandberg Elementary, San Diego
-- The Children's Initiative, San Diego
-- Clyde L. Fisher Middle School, San Jose
-- Thomas P. Ryan Elementary, San Jose
-- Richland Elementary, San Marcos
-- Timothy Murphy School for Boys, San Rafael

Nevada

-- Arthur Cambiero Elementary, Las Vegas
-- Manuel Cortez Elementary, Las Vegas
-- Robert E. Lake Elementary, Las Vegas
-- J D Smith Middle School, North Las Vegas
-- Priest Elementary, North Las Vegas
-- Kate Smith Elementary, Sparks
-- Esther Bennett Elementary, Sun Valley

New York

-- PS 58 Elementary, Bronx
-- Visiting Nurses Services of New York, New York City

Tennessee

-- Grassland Elementary, Brentwood
-- Franklin Elementary, Franklin