You may know Steph Curry’s basketball record as 2022 NBA Finals MVP, but did you know he and Ayesha Curry are also literacy champions? This year the Currys’ Eat. Learn. Play. (ELP) Foundation pledged to build, install, and steward 150 “Little Town Library” book-sharing boxes in Oakland to distribute more than 50,000 books annually throughout the community to help encourage a love of reading.
“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.”
We were honored partner with ELP on their initiative, alongside local organizations like the Oakland Public Library, Black Cultural Zone, and Oakland Literacy Coalition, which will each oversee 50 of the little libraries.
“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 ELP CEO Chris Helfrich in a release. “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.”
A future where every child learns and loves to read—there’s nothing more valuable than that!
Ayesha and Stephen Curry pose with young readers and Little Free Library Executive Director Greig Metzger. To learn how you can bring a Little Free Library book-sharing box to your neighborhood, start here!