- The East Lansing Kiwanis Club and East Lansing School District partnered to bring book vending machines to elementary schools in the District.
- Students can earn tokens as prizes, which can then be used in the machine to receive a book they can take home.
- Video shows the moment the machine was unveiled on Wednesday.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
I'm your East Lansing Neighborhood Reporter Colin Jankowski. Back in February, we told you about the book vending machines coming to East Lansing schools. Now, the first one has been unveiled, just in time for Reading Month.
Students at Donley Elementary now have a new option to grab a book.
"We think it's very important to hold a book, hold the print in your hands," Eric Rosekrans said.
Something these students will now be able to do in a unique way after the East Lansing Kiwanis Club partnered with the District to make it possible.
"So we're very much an advocate of putting these types of things in their possession," Rosekrans said.
Students can earn tokens as prizes, which can then be used to get a book from the machine. School officials hope it will be a fun and exciting way to get kids interested in reading.
"I truly believe we could have put a candy machine out there and they would've been like 'yeah that's great,'" East Lansing Assistant Superintendent Glenn Mitcham said. "But these kids get so excited about books, especially one that they can take home with them."
"It creates a culture of reading and adds to this culture of reading that we want to be throughout our schools," he said.
And as the machine was unveiled Wednesday, the excitement from the kids was evident.
"It was really great to see the enthusiasm from them and I think it only furthers and hardens our desire to do this sort of thing for the other kids in the community," Rosekrans said.
The District hopes to eventually put vending machines into each elementary school.
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