BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS Pictured are, from left, Kensley Praskovich, Nathan Houtz, Annelise Snyder, Penny Eifrig and Principal David Romanyshyn furing the initial unveiling of the machine in February.

CENTRE HALL — David Romanyshyn, the principal of Centre Hall Elementary School, has opened a GoFundMe fundraiser to purchase the book vending machine as well as a supply of books for the 2023-24 school year.

The book vending machine, given as a loan from Random Acts of Reading (RoAR), was only supposed to stay until the end of the school year, but it was such a massive hit with the students that the school wants the installation to be permanent!

Students can earn golden tokens by adhering to the school rules — being ready, respectful and responsible.

Teachers bring their classes down weekly and allow students who have earned tokens to pick a book from the machine.

Some of the books also contain special tickets where students can win an ice cream treat, use of the principal’s chair for the day, “stinky feet day” (the class gets to be in their socks and slippers for the day), show-and-tell and more.

The fundraiser was opened on April 17 with a goal of $6,500. Already, they have received numerous and generous donations — reaching $4,295 at the time of publishing.

$5,000 of the funds being raised will go towards purchasing a machine identical to the one the school currently has on loan, and the additional $1,500 will cover GoFundMe fees and books to fill the machine.

If you would like to donate or view the fundraiser, you can visit: gofund.me/469ce818