IRVINE, Calif. -

When the national reading tour that Mazda is sponsoring wraps up Friday at The New York Public Library, attendees at the event will be treated to an appearance from movie star Zac Efron, who will be the celebrity guest reader at the “Read Across America Day” celebration.

This will conclude the “NEA’s Read Across America Tour —Driven by Mazda” that launched last week as part of a partnership between Mazda North American
Operations, Universal Studious, the National Education Association’s Read Across America and the NEA Foundation.

As part of the campaign’s efforts, Mazda is giving $25 for each test drive (up to $1 million) to the NEA Foundation in fundraiser to benefit public school libraries. The test-drive donation period began Feb. 21 and will run through April 2.

The reading tour (also kicked off Feb. 21) was launched get the word out about this test-drive program. A major component of the tour is The Lorax book from Dr. Seuss. As detailed in Auto Remarketing last week, the aforementioned partnership includes Mazda’s advertising deal for the animated movie adaption of the book.

The tour wraps up in conjunction with the theatrical release of “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,”  which includes the voices of Efron and a host of other stars.

This group of actors that includes Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle and Betty White is serving with Efron as co-chairs of this year’s Read Across America Program.

The 20-plus-city tour has aimed to introduce this book to young students while also encouraging readership and raising awareness about the needs of public schools.

“NEA’s national Read Across America celebration is not just about one hour or one day of reading," said NEA president Dennis Van Roekel. "It is about cultivating a lifetime of good reading habits in students that will translate into academic success."

He added: "NEA’s Read Across America Tour brings students, parents, educators and the entire community together to share the joy of reading. At a time of budget cutbacks in education resources, including reading resources, NEA appreciates Mazda’s unique partnership to help raise $1 million to support our nation’s public school libraries and ensure all children have access to the gift of reading."