New Lincoln Library book vending machine provides 'food for the brain and the soul'

Most vending machines dispense drinks or snacks.

A new lighted vending machine at Lincoln Library in downtown Springfield is stocked with take-home books.

The public library is trying to build home libraries for children and young adults, said Denise Fisher, the library's operations coordinator.

The vending machine, which became operable after library officials held a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, is full of books from Manga and graphic novels to picture books.

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It will be operated with special Inchy the Bookworm coins children can receive by performing certain tasks, such as reading so many books or getting good grades, Fisher said.

The vending machine is behind the first-floor circulation desk. It was purchased with funds received from the Lincoln Library Foundation and is stocked with new and like-new books provided by the Lincoln Library Alliance.

The vending machine, which the library has considered for almost a year, costs about $8,000, including the books in it, and features a personal wrap with the library's logo, Fisher said. It was purchased from Global Vending Group in New York.

The foundation and alliance are separate 501(c)(3) organizations that help support the library's operation, she pointed out.

According to Gwendolyn Harrison, the library's director, children can also earn coins through the library's Youth Services or its co-lab, a new maker's space in the library, Harrison added.

The idea of providing children with books they can keep versus the notion of a lending library isn't mutually exclusive, Fisher noted.

A book in the vending machine −The Last Kids on Earth − is part of a series. If a child reads that take-home book, he or she is likely to return to the library to read the other books in the series, Fisher said.

"I have books that are mine and I love that, but I still check out books from here every day," she said.

Harrison added that the books children are allowed to keep gives them a feeling of ownership.

"They don't have to bring it back to the library, so it's a beautiful thing," said Harrison, who has been director for just over three months.

Fisher wants people to get over the notion that the library is just about books.

It has a Library of Things − a collection of non-traditional materials including games, musical instruments, wellness tools, and electronics − plus audiobooks and an array of programming.

The vending machine is another tool in the toolbox, she said.

"We just want to make sure people feel motivated to come in and use what we have and if this helps, it's a win for us," she said.

Fisher said the staff will keep replenishing the vending machine.

"It's like any other vending machine. It depends on what people are hungriest for," Fisher pointed out. "Sometimes chips go. Sometimes pretzels go. We're going to keep filling it for what people are hungry for.

"(This) is food for the brain and the soul."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Vending machine at Springfield library gives children books to keep