Literary Visionaries: Milford’s Book Vending Machine

By BILL BELLEN
MILFORD

Last summer, the Village of Milford had a pair of unique visitors; bookmobiles. With one parked beside the public library and the other adjacent to the school, a season of literary exposure began. Students at the summer school CROP program were able to retrieve free books from each truck as Milford added a new element to its efforts in literary education and awareness. This experience was considered a resounding success, with students excitedly bringing home new books and library cards to share with their families. To capitalize on this momentum, Milford Central School officials looked to continue the initiative with an expanded focus on literacy education.

“Literacy is a huge part of initiatives not only throughout the state, but here in Milford,” Kristen Shearer, superintendent of the Milford school district, said. “Reading is the passage to success.”

With these sentiments in mind, Shearer brought an idea to the table that she had seen in her previous experience at a school district in Schenectady; a book vending machine.

Teaming up with fifth grade teacher Christopher Cottrell and his class, Shearer set out to make this idea a reality. Cottrell’s class composed short writing assignments detailing why each student believed a book vending machine would benefit the school. These letters were then sent to members of the Oneonta Charitable Foundation, where they were received with great enthusiasm. The words of the children won them over, and a grant of $5,000.00 was quickly given to MCS to fund this plan. With a further $800.00 from the Milford Education Foundation to cover shipping, the book vending machine’s funding was secured.

Now that the machine itself was on its way, focus turned toward its contents. The frequent Scholastic Book Fairs hosted at MCS had built a sizable credit with the company, meaning that much of the initial stock of books could be supplied for free. This, combined with a small fund formed from a portion of the annual library budget, provided ample supply for the grand opening. Josh Cornish, the school librarian, carefully curated the books selected based on student interest in various genres and topics.

“I asked the kids what they’d like to see in our book vending machine,” Cornish said of his process for choosing the book selection. “I questioned [my students] ‘what do you want to see?’ So, they wrote it down, and [we] made a little side order and put some of that in there.”

In early February of this year, the book vending machine arrived. After an extensive installation process, it was in place, stocked with the variety of books that had been gathered. In the succeeding week, the elementary wing of the program was officially launched. Shearer first attended the weekly morning program assembly for pre-K through second grade, where the kindergarten was given the first token to use collectively as a class. This was followed by Shearer’s attendance at a third- through-sixth-grade assembly, where the first individual token was awarded to Phoebe Coughlan, for her outstanding submission during the fifth grade’s efforts to earn the grant for the vending machine.

“I always read books to little kids on the bus, and that’s all I did, and I think that’s what got me to have it,” Coughlan said. “I didn’t even expect to be pulled onto the stage. That was the first time ever.”

Following these assemblies, the students went to give this new contraption a whirl.

Coughlan inserted the token she had been gifted into the specially-sized slot on the keypad panel. She then picked the number of her book selection, “Anything But Typical.” After the popping of some pistons and the shifting of some springs, the vending machine produced her prize as it announced a congratulatory message to the book’s recipient and her audience. The process of using the tokens having thus been demonstrated, and excitement for the program in the air, teachers were each given their first tokens to distribute.

Tokens will be given out to students “caught” doing good deeds, meeting a reading goal, or helping a friend—a criteria decided by a committee that reflects the values in the school’s preexisting Pawprint Program that for years has acknowledged the good deeds of students, awarding a lucky few with free ice cream.

Since the initial launch of the new book vending machine, this initiative has seen much success. Teachers keep a close eye on student behavior to reward a chance at a free book to the most deserving. This reporter was lucky enough to witness Emmie Strong being awarded the first token from a library class.

Plans for expanding the program are already being considered, including a wider selection of books and an increase in the number of tokens to be handed out each month. But, for this to be possible, there must be community buy-in.

“I want to put books in kids’ hands and help them to love to read,” Shearer stated.

When asked about community support, she responded, “If [community members would] like to make a donation to purchase books for [the book vending machine], that’d be great. But, we’d also love for them to come and see it, so that we can show them the good things that are going on here in our school.”

As MCS continues its push for literacy and technology programs as a central educational focus, the role of the book vending machine will continue to grow. School officials are looking to enact a middle- and high-school equivalent of the initiative in the near future, with plans actively in the works.

Only time will tell what the community will make of this unique innovation and opportunity. Those interested in contributing to the book vending machine’s supply—or who are interested in viewing it for themselves—can reach out to Joshua Cornish at jcornish@milfordcentral.org.

Bill Bellen is a senior at Milford Central School.