Fresno car wash collects books for elementary school

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An elementary school is getting a big addition to its library collection thanks to a local business owner.

On Friday, A.J. Rassamni from Great American Car Wash donated nearly 200 books to Birney Elementary. The books were brought in by customers at the Blackstone and Dakota avenues car wash as part of this year's Read Across America book drive.

Rassamni split this year's donations between the school and the Fresno Veterans Hospital. He says it's important for kids to learn the importance of reading and how it's the key to success.

"And the secret is you have to read, and then you have to learn something and say, 'How can I implement it? How can I use it?' Because if you only read and put it on the side, it doesn't mean anything. You have to read something to learn every day," Rassamni told students.

Great American Car Wash collected more than 700 books this year and will be increasing next year's goal to 900.