Treasured Tales: Saratoga students secure literary prizes with book vending machine

March 31, 2025

Saratoga Elementary School students have discovered literary treasures this school year by making golden choices in their classrooms each week.
 
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade are enjoying the fruits of being responsible, respectful and kind at school with a new book vending machine. It contains multiple rows of book titles suitable for elementary ages. Students who earn tickets for good behavior are included in weekly drawings to choose their own free books out of the machine.

 
Saratoga fifth graders Zain and Jonathan joined a group of students who heard their names called over the school intercom one recent Friday afternoon. They walked down to the main office and waited patiently in line for their turn at the machine. They viewed the available titles before selecting one to add to their permanent collections.
 
Zain said he was excited to pick a paperback that talked about animals. He received his first book earlier this fall and was pleased to be chosen a second time.
 
“If your name is on the ticket that gets drawn, you get a book,” Zain said.

 
Jill Hughes said the book vending machine has been a “huge incentive” for students throughout the year. Hughes is Saratoga’s school counselor and helps students learn about lifelong skills such as kindness, responsibility and making positive decisions. She and other staff members watched them react with joy when they took their newly printed prizes out of the machine.
 
“At first, we thought, ‘Well, it’s a book. You know, we don’t know if they’ll be excited or not,’ because in the past, we have done even toys before, different things like that,” Hughes said. “This is 1,000 times better than the toys. They are so excited. I think there’s a lot of excitement about the element of choice, being able to pick what they want and something that’s of interest to them.”

 
LPS Director of Library Services Chris Haeffner said she has been encouraged by the positive stories that have emerged at Saratoga.
 
“What I love most about the addition of the vending machine is the excitement it has spurred about books and reading,” Haeffner said. “So often students come to school with a perception that reading is work, while our hope and the hope of our school librarians is to make reading feel joyous. By connecting good behavior to earning beautiful books, I’m hoping that we’re reinforcing feelings of excitement and joy in connection with reading.”
 
TeamMates Mentoring purchased 51 book vending machines for Nebraska school districts after receiving a READ Nebraska grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (NDED). The goal of the READ Nebraska grant is to improve the reading levels of elementary students through local and statewide mentorship programs.

 
Haeffner selected Saratoga to receive a machine because of its smaller enrollment size. Approximately 300 students in grades K-5 attend the school. The building also provided an ideal space for the machine, as its wide main hallway ensured that the object wouldn’t cause any congestion for people walking there.
 
Saratoga teachers hand out Shining Star tickets throughout the week to students in their classrooms. They can earn tickets for behavior-based reasons such as turning in homework on time, showing kindness to classmates or playing well together at recess. Each classroom teacher saves the tickets and brings them to the main office each Friday afternoon.
 
Saratoga staff then randomly draw one ticket out of each classroom’s pile. After their names are announced to the whole school, each student receives a golden coin to put in the vending machine. They punch in the code of the book that they want and pull it from a slot after it falls out of its holding place.

 
“The kids are beyond excited to get their golden token and to get to pick the book that they want,” Hughes said. “They come charging down here every Friday when their name is called. They’re super excited about it.”
 
Sydney Bockman coordinates the READ Nebraska grant program for TeamMates. She said it has been inspiring to hear how the book vending machines have benefited Saratoga and other schools.
 
“We have gotten only positive feedback, from student excitement to gratitude for the opportunity in schools that they would never be able to afford without the grant,” Bockman said.

 
Bockman said the customizable design of each vending machine has allowed TeamMates to spread the message about its mentorship programs. Saratoga’s machine is red and has several TeamMates logos emblazoned on it. The organization is also excited to promote literacy to hundreds of students.
 
“The two principles we are working from on the literacy aspect are book choice and book ownership,” Bockman said. “The vending machines provide both book choice and book ownership for students in a fun and innovative way.”
 
In addition to purchasing the 51 machines, TeamMates also bought the first set of books for each school to fill them. Saratoga will work with TeamMates on funding streams for future books after the original set is emptied.

 
Hughes said the TeamMates machine has been a source of many treasure-filled tales at Saratoga. She has been encouraged by the amount of reading and responsibility it has promoted for everyone this year.
 
“We’ll see kids just even when they’re in the hallway, they’ll stop to check out what’s in there,” Hughes said. “It’s a big deal.”
 
Visit TeamMates Mentoring of Lincoln’s website at www.lincolnteammates.org to learn more about mentoring opportunities at LPS buildings. 

Explore our Library Services webpage at home.lps.org/libraries/ to discover how LPS promotes and encourages reading for students in all grade levels.
 
Do you have a story idea? Share it with the LPS Communications Team by filling out this form!

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