On Monday at Crestview Elementary, principal Stacy Davis and media specialist Haley Beardemphl held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the installation of a book vending machine. The book vending machine is conveniently located in the hallway outside of the library.  

This school year, Crestview has been focusing on promoting literacy and working to get students more excited about reading. After receiving a grant from the Frenship Foundation for Leadership, Davis and Beardemphl were able to purchase the book vending machine just in time for National School Library Appreciation Month.  

The machine works just like any other vending machine. Students place their token into the slot and type in the location number of the book they have chosen, hit ‘enter’, and out comes their book! The machine even talks to them and gives them directions as they proceed through the steps. Afterwards, it tells them to ‘Enjoy your new book! Have a nice day!’ 

“Just like they get excited about candy or soda from a vending machine, we see the same excitement in them over a brand-new book!” said Beardemphl. 

Davis and Beardemphl stocked the machine with books they felt would be a good fit for the students. They purposefully chose books that were in popular series or titles in the Crestview library and made sure to represent each reading level from the young, early readers to the developed, older readers. 

They are still ironing out details with the reading committee and site-based committee members on how students can earn tokens. They want to make sure that each student at Crestview has an equal opportunity to earn a token for the book vending machine. One thing is for sure: it will be connected to reading achievement! 

“We feel so fortunate and thankful to have this book vending machine,” said Beardemphl. “Students are excited about reading, getting their hands on new books, and telling their friends about the great things they are reading! Our goal was to promote literacy, and I feel like we are doing just that!”