Ernest Stapleton Elementary School is taking reading to the next level with a new addition to the school. The school has recently brought a new vending machine into the school, but it’s not just any vending machine– but one where students work to earn a free book.
“We brought in the best vending machine, because we really wanted our kids to have more books in their homes and have more books that they could just keep on hand,” said Laraine Hostetler, Librarian at Ernest Stapleton Elementary School.
Teachers at the school also started to notice that the children’s reading scores were starting to drop since returning from the pandemic. According to the New Mexico Public Education Department, Stapleton Elementary had a 55% reading proficiency in 2023. The vending machine became a great idea for a fun, interactive way to get children at the school more interested in reading.
The vending machine took a lot of fundraising for the school in order to purchase it. The school’s PTA had a big hand in the fund raising amongst many other events throughout the school year. “We have a great PTA who spent a lot of time trying to raise funds for the school,” said Hostetler. “We also had some community donations as well.”
The vending machine cost $7,389.
Any student can receive a book out of the vending machine but they must earn it. To be able to receive a book students must earn a token by showing “Coyote Pride Behavior”. That means students must be respectful and responsible students. They can also receive a token if a teacher gives them a positive behavior referral, has good attendance, or if they have some sort of academic progress. Once a student receives a token, the book it is theirs to keep and take it back to their home.
The books in the vending machine are constantly being restocked and filled with books that the students will be interested in reading. As the librarian, Hostetler figures out what books the kids would be interested in reading. “We want to make sure that we have books at all different kinds of levels for the kids, different genres. We also like to have books in there that validates kids’ culture” said Hostetler. The school looks to have a great selection of books so that way there is always something for everyone.
As of right now, the school does not plan to bring in another book vending machine to the school, but is focused on making sure their current one is always well stocked. However, the school does hope that their vending machine inspires other schools across Rio Rancho to look into getting one for themselves.
“We have a lot of schools in Rio Rancho who are Title One schools. And we would love to see those schools get one too,” says Hostetler.
Ernest Stapleton Elementary recently had an unveiling of the book vending machine for the students and it’s now stocked and ready for readers.