BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - While many expect to go to the vending machine to choose their favorite snack or drink, students in the Russellville Independent School District get to pick their favorite book.

Thursday morning, students and faculty gathered at Stevenson Elementary School to unveil the very first book vending machine in the state of Kentucky. The district partnered with Global Vending Group to give kids a new way to love literacy. 

Books are given based on a points program for accelerated readers. Children who get 25 points are given a shiny gold token that they can take to the vending machine in exchange for a brand new book. The machine is filled with various options and choices for students.

Outreach coordinator, Mindy Key, says, “It’s really important that they get to choose because then they have ownership of the next 25 points they earn to get another token so we don’t want to limit the choices they have, this shelf, this row, only this way. So, you pick what you want because it’s yours”. 

Choice is also important for students like, Genesis Terry, who have a wide range of interest and read anything from non-fiction history books to Harry Potter. Already having one token under her belt, she is working hard to obtain another saying “Well I’m reading a Harry Potter book right now and that story’s 12 point so I’m almost done with that, I got like 100 pages left, so I got to read that and I got to take a test on it and if I get a 80 or above then I’ll get 12 points for it.”

This program is different than having the typical library card because once a book is earned, the student can keep either keep it forever or "pass it on to another reader" says superintendent Bart Flener.

The cool new gadget is in the high school as well.