A Wisconsin elementary school is delivering books to kids in a vending machine

One Brookfield elementary school is delivering books to students via a method normally used to distribute sodas and snacks.

You guessed it: a vending machine.

Dixon Elementary School, in the Elmbrook School District, introduced the device at the start of the school year to provide every student at the school with a book on their birthday.

Here's more information about the device.

Where did the idea for the book vending machine come from?

Dixon Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) co-president Carey Drees said she and her co-president, Sarah Monty, saw on social media that other schools nationwide were installing similar book vending machines.

"You usually think of a vending machine giving out soda or sugary treats or chips, and to see that it was giving out books was a really fun idea, and we thought that that fit really well with our elementary school," Drees said in a phone interview.

The PTO considered whether to purchase and retrofit a regular food vending machine to give out books, but ended up finding a vending machine already intended to distribute books, Drees said.

The device is an Inchy's Bookworm Book Vending Machine, sold by Buffalo, New York-based Global Vending Group, according to a news release from the Dixon Elementary PTO.

Drees said the company allowed the PTO to customize the vending machine.

"So we could design trays. There are a variety of different trays for different-sized books because, of course, you get big, hardcover picture books versus smaller chapter books for kids. So they let us choose options of what kind of trays we wanted. And then working on a token system instead of money was really attractive for a school and what we wanted to do with gifting everyone a book on their birthday. I think it was a fun and unique way to get kids excited for the school year," Drees said.

Drees said she hopes the vending machine can foster a love of learning and literacy.

"The more we can make reading fun and interesting, and especially have a variety of titles where kids could find a sports book or they could find a book with a character they identify with, I think that would help continue that joy and love of reading that we hope that kids in 4K feel and carry that with them throughout their whole educational journey," Drees said.

How was the purchase funded, and how will students receive their books?

A little over $6,000 was raised to purchase the machine through PTO fundraisers and events throughout the previous school year, Drees said. The machine was installed this summer. The initial round of books for the machine came from the school's Scholastic Book Fairs.

"Parent volunteers really looked throughout the book fair to find books that were a variety of age levels, reading levels, interests, nonfiction and fiction, especially popular series or popular characters," Drees said about the books.

New books will be added to the machine using "Scholastic dollars," which are earned through purchases made at the school's Scholastic Book Fairs held each fall and spring, the PTO's news release said.

Students will receive books on their birthday or half-birthday if their actual birthday falls during the summer. During the morning announcements, birthdays will be announced and students will come to the school office to pick up a token to use for the machine. A librarian or other staff member will then accompany the student to the machine, which is between the school's office and library in the main hallway.

"They can go over to the book vending machine, put their token in and then it works like any other vending machine. They make their selection, and the book drops down. It's really fun," Drees said.

What has the reaction to the book vending machine been like?

Drees said even before school started, the book vending machine got the attention of parents and students with its design, which includes the school's dragon mascot on it, when they came to meet their teachers and bring in their school supplies.

"The kids got so excited, and they just wanted to know how it worked and when they were going to get it," Drees said.

Drees said it was important for the book vending machine to include all students.

"We've seen other book vending machines where it's reward based, where they have great attendance or maybe they had great behavior, whatever, and then they raffle off the tokens to be able to go to the books," Drees said. "We didn't want it to be reward based. We really thought that every kid at our school deserved a book and deserved that joy and excitement of going and getting one. So we're really happy with the excitement level of the kids to be able to tell them that everyone will get one."

Dixon principal Luke Sadowski also praised the book vending machine.

"It's a new way of making kids excited to come to school and just, not even that they get a book, that they get to see it, that we're having fun things at school and excited about school because it's not just about us telling them what to learn, but just that they're going to have a lifelong love of learning is my ultimate goal. With a book vending machine, that just makes more possibilities of that happening," said Sadowski in a phone interview.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Vending machine provides books to Brookfield elementary students