New Book Vending Machine Puts Reading Rewards in Students’ Hands

At John A. Crookshank Elementary School, a good choice can now come with a new story. Students can earn tokens through positive behavior and exchange them at a newly installed “Bookworm” vending machine, choosing a book to take home and add to their own collection. The machine, unveiled Aug. 28 during a visit from NASCAR Cup Series driver Erik Jones, makes reading a visible and celebratory part of the school day.

Jones, driver of the No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, joined school leaders and AdventHealth representatives to read with students before revealing the machine. For children, the appeal is immediate: a vending machine stocked not with snacks or prizes, but with books they get to select for themselves.

“Reading can open up a whole new world for a child,” Jones said. “I love seeing how excited kids get when they get to choose a book of their own. Being able to bring this program to another school and give more students that opportunity means a lot to me.”

The Crookshank machine is the seventh supported through a partnership between AdventHealth and The Erik Jones Foundation, which Jones established in 2021. Early literacy is one of the foundation’s focus areas, and the vending machine program has previously reached elementary schools in Brevard, Flagler and Volusia counties.

The idea is simple, but it gives children a meaningful sense of ownership. Instead of borrowing a book and eventually returning it, students leave with a story that is theirs to keep, reread and share at home. The machines also connect reading with the everyday choices students make in the classroom, hallways and cafeteria.

AdventHealth has committed $5,000 annually to help keep each of the seven machines stocked. Denyse Bales-Chubb, president and CEO of AdventHealth operations in St. Johns and Flagler counties, said the partnership reflects a broader understanding of community health. “We know that a healthy community is about more than healthcare,” Bales-Chubb said. “Helping children discover books they enjoy and encouraging them to read is one more way we can support families and schools in the communities we serve. Putting books directly into kids’ hands can help build habits that stay with them for years.”

For St. Johns County School District Superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen, the machine offers another approachable way to help students see reading as something enjoyable rather than required. “Helping students discover books they enjoy is an important part of building strong, confident readers,” Asplen said. “This new resource gives our students a fun way to celebrate reading and find stories they can continue enjoying at home.”

The book vending machine arrives as AdventHealth expands its presence in St. Johns County. The health system opened its first offsite emergency department in St. Augustine in July and has plans for a second emergency department at World Commerce Center. Its work with local students, however, begins well before a family needs medical care.

At Crookshank Elementary, that work now has a bright, book-filled home. For a student holding a token and weighing which title to choose, the reward is both immediate and lasting: a book in hand, a story waiting to be opened, and one more reason to make reading part of life beyond the school day.