Atlanta Falcons Bijan Robinson Hosts Bijan Reads Book Fair for Atlanta Public Schools

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson welcomed 7,500 Atlanta Public Schools (APS) elementary students to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the first Bijan Reads Book Fair.

More than 35 APS elementary schools brought their first, second, and third-grade students to see Bijan, get excited about reading, and receive a gift bag of books and new literary resources.

“This is one of the coolest things that I’ve ever done,” Robinson said. “I believe it’s so important to bring the love of reading to the students, and not just want to read, but want to understand and be happy reading.”

Robinson partnered with The Alliance Theatre to assist him in engaging students and getting them excited about reading. He read the book Be You by Peter H. Reynolds and interacted with students between every page with inspirational messages to encourage them to be brave, curious, and persistent.

“He did a fantastic job of bringing the book to life,” APS director of library media services Jennifer Sauders said. “This goes right along with The Science of Reading and all of the things that we have been working on and training our teachers on so we can make reading exciting for our students and inspire them to find joy in reading.”

After Robinson finished reading with the students, he invited them down to the field where several of his Atlanta Falcons teammates and volunteers helped fill student gift bags with books, pencils, valuable literacy resources, and other goodies.

“When our community comes together to support our students with literacy, it has such a powerful impact,” Saunders said. “It lets our students know that not only does APS care about them and encourage them to develop good reading habits, but the City of Atlanta, the Atlanta Falcons, and all the people in Atlanta are cheering for them to become the best readers they can be.”

Robinson, who has already been an impact player on the field for the Atlanta Falcons, created the book fair to have a larger impact off the field. It meant a lot to him to witness students excited about the opportunity to see him in person, and not just through social media or on TV.

“This is why I’m here,” he said. “God blessed me to do what I do on the field, but also to do this for the community, change these kids’ lives, be present for them, and make a massive impact not just on the field, but here too. That means way more than me scoring touchdowns on Sundays.”