As the school year is ending, so is the book drive, sponsored by Rizzoli’s Automotive over the past seven months.

The automotive repair shop launched the drive in October 2010 to benefit the Raising A Reader program, supporting literacy in the San Luis Obispo community through the San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation. More than 600 books were donated at Rizzoli’s locations in San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria, greatly surpassing Rizzoli’s initial goal of 100 books, which extended the drive past the original ending date of December 31, 2010.

The book drive was kicked off on October 20, 2010 at the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce Mixer, hosted at the SLO location of Rizzoli’s.

"We were very pleased with the final number of books donated and that we could support such a great program as Raising a Reader," Rizzoli's general manager Kyle Rizzoli said. "However, I can’t say I wasn’t surprised with our community’s generosity. As a third generation, locally-owned, family business, we have seen what our community can do and we’re glad to support these efforts, just as Rizzoli’s has been supported throughout the years."

Raising A Reader is an early literacy program that supplies simple training and preschool books to low-income families in our community. The program strives to prepare preschool aged children for school and lifetime success. More information about the program can be found at www.sloccf.org.

Rizzoli’s Automotive has been a family-run business for three generations, taking pride in quality care and customer service. Rizzoli’s is located at 2584 Victoria in San Luis Obispo and at 1149 W. Tama Lane in Santa Maria. More information can be found at www.RizzolisAutomotive.com.