Is Book Vending Machine A Good Way To Encourage Reading? [POLL]

An upstate school installed a new vending machine. That wouldn't be news except that the vending machine isn't what you are probably thinking it's for.

The Arthur O. Eve School of Distinction #61 in the Buffalo Public Schools put a vending machine in its library, and it doles out — wait for it — books.

According to a Facebook post, the school wanted to encourage reading in school and out of school and to increase the students' excitement about reading.

"All children will have the opportunity to receive new books for their home libraries by receiving tokens through a rewards system consisting of rotating classroom visits to the vending machine each month," the district said.

The vending machine was the idea of Assistant Principal Dr. Unseld Robinson and was purchased by the school's after-school partner — the Community Action Organization.

Robinson said she heard about a similar vending machine in Washington, D.C.

"Family reading has been lost, due to technology. So we want to bring the old school roots back to the family where parents are reading together with their children," she told wrex.com.

The CAO also donated $1,000 for the purchase of books.

Books were also donated by such organizations as Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company.

The reading material is labeled appropriate for particular grade levels and includes such titles as "Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race," "I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937" and "The World According to Humphrey."

Sharon Belton-Cottman, a trustee on the Buffalo Board of Education, said that one of the biggest issues the district has is literacy.

"If our children can read, they can survive," she told The Buffalo News.

So now is the time to tell us what you think. Is this a good way to encourage children to read? Vote in our highly unscientific poll and tell us why in the comments.

Video via YouTube.com. Thumbnail: Screenshot via YouTube.com.