Bastrop ISD’s Colony Oaks and Lost Pines elementary schools welcomed new book vending machines on campus to help encourage at-home reading. Students receive tokens for good behavior throughout the day that can be exchanged for a book from the machine.

Zooming in

Tokens are awarded to students for being kind to classmates or demonstrating respectful behavior.

“We're a new school, so we're putting into place positive behavior rewards starting up—hopefully—a culture of literacy,” Colony Oaks Librarian Sara Thompson said.

The big picture

The books are free for students, who can choose from a variety of titles found in the vending machine.

“Not all of our kids have a lot of books at home,” Thompson said. “So it's helping all of our kids get some books at home.”