(COLORADO SPRINGS) — At Audubon Elementary School, there’s something in the hallway that just stands out. It’s no ordinary vending machine — instead of candy and chips, there are picture books and chapter books for students.

“This year, we wanted to do something new, unique and different,” said Audubon Elementary School Principal, Aaron Ford. “We’re always trying to encourage kids to read, but sometimes it’s hard to get books in kid’s hands. We have a library where kids get to check out a book, but then it’s not always theirs and so there’s something powerful to having your own book.”

It was a yearlong process to get this machine into the halls, but now students eagerly line up to pick out a story of their choice.

“It’s actually really cool,” said Audubon Elementary School Fourth Grader, Luke Bosch. “I can have a free book for doing pretty much nothing.”

For many students, like Bosch, this vending machine was a surprise to see at the start of the school year.

Bosch shared his initial reaction was, “it’s just like a bunch of books, do I pay for it?”

Bosch smiled as he held up the book he choose from the vending machine.

When it comes down to how these bookworms can obtain a book, there are several initiatives.

“Students, they get a book for their birthday,” Ford said. “They can earn a book for if they reach a reading goal, they can earn books for different things in the classroom through positive behavior. So, there’s a lot of different ways for students to get to celebrate something that gives something in their hands, but that’s meaningful, such as a book.”

Inside the book vending machine, rows were filled with different books for students to pick out.

This new addition in the halls gives students a paper copy in hand and hopefully encourages them to find a love for reading with a new chapter.

“We just know that having a book in a kid’s hands significantly increases their ability to be able to engage in a book,” Ford said. “We know that if they’re not reading fluently by the end of third grade… it sets them back academically and so sometimes you find that book that’s just your favorite book that you just love reading over and over and over again.”

Just like a variety of candy bars, there is a variety of books to pique the interest of any student.

“This book vending machine supports students from preschool through fifth grade,” Ford said. “We have picture books that are very easy read for our younger students as they’re learning the skills of reading all the way up to chapter books and novels for our older students who might be engaging in that higher level reading. So, we wanted to make sure that there’s a variety of levels of books.”

Students eagerly awaited to choose which book they would call their own from the vending machine.

Now at Audubon Elementary School, there is a unique birthday gift for every student no matter their age or reading ability.

“We want to make sure that kids have books in their hands as frequently as possible,” Ford said. “So, by being able to know that at a minimum, every student’s going to walk out with a book that’s there and have to earn it, they didn’t have to buy it. Not every family has those same opportunities, but at a minimum, for your birthday, you’re walking out with a birthday book.”

There is no need to worry for those students who have summer birthdays, the school already has a plan in action to make sure everyone gets a page-turner.

“When we came back and started the year on the first day of school, every student that had a July birthday or August birthday, up to the first day of school, they got celebrated day one of school,” Ford said. “At the end of the year, we’ll celebrate all of our June birthdays and late May birthdays. So, making sure that every student, regardless of when your birthday is, you are going to get a book, at least one this year before you walk out the door for summer.”

A group of students from Audubon Elementary School show off the new books from the vending machine.

As the school year progresses, Ford shares they will be updating the machine with new books and get top sellers form the book fair in October.

“If we get kids reading books and we get them in text, we know that that is so impactful as far as the learning goes to making them a more proficient reader throughout their early elementary age,” said Ford.