Bookworm Vending Machine Debuts At Mason Creek Middle School

WINSTON, GA — A Mason Creek Middle School vending machine is now dispensing books instead of snacks to students.

The Bookworm Vending Machine debuted at Mason Creek Middle School this month and is the first of its kind in the Atlanta area, according to a news release from the Douglas County School System.

Students earn a trip to the book machine by earning good grades and reading books, according to the release. When they receive their golden book token, students can choose from up to 300 different young-adult books.

Mason Creek Middle School Media Specialist Jennifer Baker said the shelves are stocked with young-adult titles ready to impress even the most reluctant reader.

“We are very excited about our new book vending machine. It puts a personal reward system at our fingertips,” she said. “This is more than a vending machine. It is a personal, creative tool to inspire and encourage young readers.”

Benton Washington and George Arslanian of The Vision Fund led efforts to bring the book machine to the Douglas County School System. The Vision Fund’s mission is to help students achieve their dreams by providing vending machines for books. (The organization is not related to an investment group with a similar name.)

Washington, the group’s founder and executive director, said reading changed his life when he was 22 years old.

“It gave me knowledge, a dream and strengthened my faith,” Washington said. “The ambition, joy and education I gained from reading was not enough to keep to myself. I wanted to create ways to encourage and share what I gained with others.”

Former Mason Creek Middle School student Isha Imran created the bold design printed on the book machine, which sits in the school atrium.

Inventory for the book machine came through parent donations, Scholastic Dollars and a Literacy for Learning, Living and Leading in Georgia (L4GA) grant. The Douglas County School System is using the $1.6 million Georgia Department of Education grant to support student literacy learning initiatives to address the literacy needs of children in Douglas County from birth through grade 12.

The next book vending machine will be installed in South Douglas Elementary School in Douglasville, with plans to fund a third one at Children’s Hospital of Atlanta. The Vision Group board members hope to gain more community support to bring the Book Machine to as many schools as possible.

For more information on The Vision Fund, visit, https://www.thevisionfund.org/.

This story came from the Douglas County School System.

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