According to an Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation press release, 1 in 3 children are reading at grade level by the end of third grade. In Oakland after two years of distance learning, only 15.4% of Black and 12.5% of Latino/a elementary students are reading at grade level.
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"From kindergarten through third grade, making sure you are reading at your grade level by the time you get to third grade determines your educational future," said Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation co-founder Ayesha Curry. "So for us, turning those numbers around is really, really important."
Back in September, the Curry's unveiled the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation bus with a goal of bringing resources directly to the people that need it.
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The goal of the Little Town Libraries is to further that push, making reading fun and accessible.
"These boxes, can hopefully make the access to literacy resources and service these kids in a fun way and accessible way," said Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation co-founder Stephen Curry. "Like Ayesha said 150 of these are going to go around Oakland and the right areas and locations. But that means 30,000 books at the hands of kids that need the inspiration, the tools to develop at the right ages and hopefully bring an amazing experience of fun to reading which is what it's all about."
The Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation Little Town Libraries are being selected by partners across the community including the Oakland Literacy Coalition, Oakland Public Library and Black Cultural Zone.
Franklin Elementary has been a special spot for the Curry's, a renovated basketball court with help of the CarMax Foundation and Kaboom, artwork by the Illuminaries, as well as a garden. The unveiling of the Little Town Libraries represented a long-awaited return to in-person events.
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"Being back here in person, a little more energy and bringing these Little Town Libraries here, this being the first one, hopefully reflects our commitment to Oakland and our commitment to the next generation of kids and continuing to find ways to impact them and giving them the proper resources and fun, that's what it's about," said Stephen Curry.