One of the Bay area’s most famous athletes is rounding the bases for books this summer.
- Rays' player Evan Longoria promotes 'Reading with the Rays' in Manatee
- Program promotes reading throughout the summer
Evan Longoria ‘led off’ for “Reading with the Rays” at the Manatee County library Friday.
The baseball star read multiple books to a crowded room packed with books and adults—promoting “Reading with the Rays” throughout the summer.
“We started in Hillsborough and Pinellas. We’ve reached out now to Manatee and hopefully by the end of my tenure whenever that is and get it to go all the way statewide and have a bigger interest not only necessarily in the Rays but just in the program in general,” Longoria said.
Kids were not only lining up to see the player, they also took Longoria’s advice and went home with some new books.
It was a Rays packed day, with DJ Kitty even making an appearance--all in the hopes of keeping the library packed throughout the summer.
“I know as a kid, I wasn’t that excited about going to the library and hopefully they can see kind of the wonders and the mystery of the library and about reading and show up and be inspired,” Longoria said.
Longoria will make his next appearance in Hillsborough County on July 24.
This is the 10th year of “Reading with the Rays” and the fifth year that Longoria has been the spokesperson for the program.