Elevating Readers Together

In the past year and a half, we have been fundraising and grant writing to launch our non-profit. We have created, what we think is, a sustainable way to distribute books to Salida youth through purchasing book vending machines. We installed our first machine in January 2023 at Longfellow Elementary School and distributed 343 books through the machine between January and May. 

What is a book vending machine, you might ask? A book vending machine is a vending machine much like a candy or chip vending machine that dispenses books. It has special trays for displaying books, a custom mouth for retrieving books, and customized coins for purchasing books. Students put in their coins and choose the book they want by using a keypad on the side, and their book is dispensed. The books are free for the students to keep and to build their personal libraries. 

We have since purchased a second machine for Salida High School (SHS), which we loaned to Salida Regional Library for their summer reading program. And, we have also purchased our third machine for Salida Middle School (SMS). All three machines are up and running and distributing books in Salida. 

We are now continuing to raise funds to stock the machines.