Ribbon Cutting For Newest Book Vending In Michigan

Washington Elementary School in Wyandotte Michigan just held a ribbon cutting ceremony for a re-purposed vending machine they brought into their school. That might sound a little strange to you if you haven’t kept up with Global Vending Group much in the past year. The reason this vending machine is creating a lot of buzz in the community is because it dispenses books!

Michigan Elementary School Receives New Book Vending Machine

That’s right, students can stop by the school’s vending machine to pick up a brand new book that they get to keep. The crazy thing is, that’s not even the best part. All the books in the bookworm vending machine are completely free for all students! Instead of operating on traditional bills and change, we’ve modified our book vending machines to only accept our custom made gold coins.

With the purchase of a new bookworm vending machine, Global Vending Group also includes a stash of coins featuring our mascot Inchy the Bookworm. This allows teachers to regulate the machine’s use and in most cases we’ve seen schools use these coins as an incentive for students. During the ribbon cutting ceremony, students were asked what they did to earn their coins. Many responses including helping other students and staying quiet in the hallways.

We call this our Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports system, or PBIS.  Students "purchasing" books with PBIS coins has multiple benefits. As we mentioned it helps them focus on practicing good behavioral traits. But, it also encourages them to develop a love for reading by picking out the books they want to read and keeping them at home. This highlights one of the main advantages a book vending machine has over the school library. Students can start their own mini-library that they can read from during summer vacation and over longer school breaks.

The goal of our bookworm machines is always to support early childhood literacy. The idea is to spark a passion for reading at an early age that will help them throughout the rest of their life. Washington Elementary’s superintendent, Catherine Cost, summed it up perfectly in her interview during the ribbon cutting:

“I hope this fosters a greater level of reading,” Cost said. “I want kids to find a desire to fall into a good book, and find a series that really engages them and makes them want to continue reading.”

If you like the idea but are concerned about your school being able to afford a book vending machine, take inspiration from this story. Washington Elementary’s fourth grade teacher Salena Harris, heard about our machine through Facebook and wanted to get her school in on the game. From there she started a fundraising effort with local parents and other community members. Shortly after, they reached their goal and a brand new book vending machine was on its way.

If you would like to make a similar impact at your school with a new book vending machine, come to Global Vending Group. We’re always looking to team up with schools to help support early childhood education. Give us a call today for more info on how to get your own custom book vending machine!