Central Unified's McKinley Elementary unveils book vending machine to encourage kids to read

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The McKinley Elementary School library in the Central Unified School District is an inviting space for students to pull up a chair and read every day.

Chapter books, sports books or even one about a grumpy monkey, there's something for everyone.

"I like reading because I like imagining stuff, and it makes me really smart," said Charlotte Wood, a third-grade student.

Charlotte says she's been working hard to increase her reading level.

"I don't know how many books I've read, but I think it might be a lot," Charlotte said.

Now she's got another reason to keep going: the school recently unveiled a book vending machine.

"We started this last year, but we're finally able to finalize it this school year, so I'm super excited," said Principal Dr. Marilu Cano.

Cano says a teacher told the librarian, Paula Felisiano, about the machine.

Felisiano got to work researching and tracking down funding.

The Central Unified Foundation, which is supported through faculty and staff donations, agreed to help with the cost.

Now, the vending machine is up and running in the library.

Students can earn tickets by reading a book and scoring 100% on their Accelerated Reading test.

Those tickets go into a special bucket and, each week, six students names are drawn.

They're given a gold coin and they get to choose a book to take home.

Charlotte got to use the machine for the first time during our visit. She chose "Pig the Winner" because she likes the "Pig the Pug" series.

Cano says she has set aside some funding to help replenish the books.

Feliciano also sells snacks on Fridays, and the money raised goes toward keeping the machine stocked.

They both hope this new investment will help kids foster a love of reading.

"That's my goal is that we start with this and little by little it just becomes the passion for them to continue reading." Cano said.

The school continues looking for ways to fund the book vending machine.

They say the more funding they have, the more books they have and the more they can give away to students.

If you'd like to help with a donation, you can send a check made payable to McKinley Elementary School and write "Library Book Vending Machine" in the memo portion.

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