Words, not snacks. Sterling school’s newest vending machine dispenses books

STERLING — Washington Elementary unveiled its book vending machine to students on Friday — eliciting the enthusiastic reaction Principal Liz Engstrom was hoping for.

Eyes lit up. The students — grades 3 to 5 — were eager to try it for themselves.

And why not? By depositing a special token — given as a reward for reading achievement or to reinforce positive behavior — students can make a selection from the titles available and get a book that’s theirs to keep.

The machine — custom wrapped in the district’s signature colors of navy and gold — occupies a spot in the library.

It’s perfectly situated so library aide Ashley Schueler can manage the iPad kiosk nearby where students can take quizzes on the books they’ve read and earn points toward getting a token.

“She works with the teachers so they are choosing books at an appropriate level,” Engstrom said. “It has all the bells and whistles. When they wheeled it in, you’d never seen anything like it.”

The tokens themselves — stamped with an inchworm reading a book — might become commodity on their own. Engstrom said students are already asking for them — not as the means for a book — but as keepsakes because of the fetching design.

Previously, reward books were kept on a revolving shelf.

Engstrom started the fundraising project as a unifying effort for the students and teachers as much as it was to acquire the nifty machine itself.

“When we had returned to in-person learning post-COVID, I was looking for ways to boost everyone up a little bit,” Engstrom said. “It was rough coming back. It provided that outlet for students that would have a goal that we could focus on.”

Inchy’s Bookwork Vending Machines produced by Global Vending Group weighs more than 600 pounds and costs in the vicinity of $6,000. Sterling’s machine was shipped from Pennsylvania, Engstrom said.

Some of the funding came from the school’s share of a Scholastic book fair in March. There were community donations. Lastly, a grant from Sterling Schools Foundation covered the rest.

It’s stocked with titles purchased from Scholastic — the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, whose book clubs serve 115,000 schools. The books loaded in the machine fit the school’s accelerated reader program.

“I personally feel books can easily fall by the wayside,” said Engstrom, who confessed her own preference of turning paper pages to scrolling digitally on a device. “We want them to enjoy paper books. Reading for pleasure.”

While the machine can hold up to 300 books and displays about 20 at a time — students granted a token won’t necessarily be limited to the titles they can see.

A look at the machine shows rows upon rows of books. But students are limited by the selection. If a student doesn’t see what they want, Engstrom has the key to the machine and will open it up so they can get the one they desire.

They will have to surrender the token, though.