Warwood Elementary Unveils New Book Vending Machine

Jul 17, 2023

May 20, 2023

Eva Huggins, a fourth grade student at Warwood Elementary School, views the selections in the school's new book vending machine on Friday. (Photo by Joselyn King)

WHEELING — Warwood Elementary School has found a way to serve up both free books and a dose of community knowledge to its students.

The school unveiled its new book vending machine on Friday. Students there are rewarded with points for both reading and good behavior, and these points can be redeemed in the school store for tokens that can be used in the book vending machine.

The machine, meanwhile, is filled with books paid for by people with an appreciation for the community they hope to pass on to today's youths. Above each of the rungs in the machine is the name of a person or organization important to the Warwood community, and donors have contributed money for books to be placed in that spot to honor them.

Information about each of the people and organizations also has been assembled in a binder the students can access in the school's office so they can learn more about them.

Among those honored in the machine are Mary Virginia Lynch, the Warwood Lions Club, the Warwood School staff, Thomas Innocenti II, M. Andrew Garber, Donald T. Minder, Barbara and Ken Cover, Edith M. Isner, Cathy Sobray Carpenter, Viking Parents, Susan Vail, Sarah Fisher, Hazel Mandeck, Katherine Wildpret, Nancy Vieweg, Jean Marie DeLo Jones, Billie Karnell, Annette Mandrakas Tysk, Eileen N. Miller, and J. Loran Mercer.

Books in the machine include "Bad Kitty For President" and "Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone," as well as others telling stories about such things as unicorns and pirates.

When a student selects a book from the vending machine, "it's theirs to keep," explained Charles Julian, a retired librarian and Warwood High School alumnus.

Julian chaired the fundraising effort for the machine, which was expected to cost as much as $6,000. He said he knew the best way to raise money was "to make a personal connection to those in the community," and have them contribute in honor of someone in Warwood who had been an inspiration to them.

Julian was a donor himself to the project in honor of Isner, a Warwood High School librarian who inspired him to pursue the career he said " that became the joy of my life."

"I never in the world thought I would be a librarian until I met Miss Isner," he continued.

Principal Joey Subasic said the vending machine project has been in the works since 2021.

"We started on it, we found a vendor, we got the pricing, and then we couldn't believe it," he said.

"Then we thought, how do we make this project happen. We knew we could tap the Warwood community.

"I know from being a product of the Warwood community myself that there are a lot of dedicated educators and community members who make this community great, and the school function. We wanted to make sure we dedicated each of the rungs to people who have made an impact on the school."

The graphics on the side of the vending machine were created in 2021 by then 7th grade student Gage Canfield, who will be a freshman at Wheeling Park High School next school year.

Even the vending machine company was impressed by his work, Subasic said.

But Canfield doesn't plan to pursue a career in art, preferring instead to keep doing it as an enjoyable hobby.

"I don't want art as a main career," he said. "That would run all the fun out of it."

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