‘Anywhere They Want To Go’: Books Fill Vending Machine At Owasso Elementary School

Students at an Owasso Elementary School are getting rewarded for acts of kindness and reading with a free book.  The school raised money to buy a vending machine that dispenses kids’ books instead of drinks or snacks.

It has been quite the hit among students at Ator Elementary since they could start using it on Monday.

"They are from the best librarian and also they have a lot of pages that I like," said seven-year-old Olivia Hall.

"My passion is to be able to get kids the books without them having to fund it," said Jamie Fleming, Ator Elementary librarian.  

This machine doesn't take money, it takes tokens. Kids are given tokens for reading books, excelling in their math classes, or for showing acts of kindness. The vending machine has been years in the making and top readers like Olivia and Kennady, along with plenty of their peers helped fundraise to make this vending machine a reality.

"The kids really stepped up and they read and read and read and they raised money to no end,” Fleming said. “We are so proud of them.”

It is stocked with brand new books that the kids love to read, offering a thousand different worlds that can take these kids as far as their imagination will allow.

"I love reading books because I love meeting new characters and going to new places," said nine-year-old Kennady Blake.

"My hope for them when they come into my library is that they can create, imagine, explore and know that books can take them anywhere that they want to go," said Mrs. Fleming.

Walmart in Owasso gave the school a $1,000 community grant to stock up the vending machine but as the kids continue to do good work, the school will need more books.

If you would like to donate, please drop off new books only at the front desk of Ator Elementary.