Last week, Plains Elementary School in Rockingham County unveiled a brand new vending machine inside their library.

But the machine is not meant for snacking — it's for reading.

"What we have behind us is a book vending machine for our students and for our school," Joseph Kapuchuck, Principal of Plains Elementary, said.

Principal Kapuchuck said this was a new initiative in their library, installed with help from community partners to promote good students.

In celebration of Rockingham Insurance's 150th anniversary, the insurance company donated $4,700 toward the machine at the school. Blu Plumbing, LLC also donated $400 to purchase the first set of books for the machine.

"With this machine, students can earn tokens and with those tokens, they can earn a book and take home," Principal Kapuchuck said.

He said those tokens are given out to teachers, so the teachers can reward students with something that will benefit their minds instead of just candy or a sticker.

The machine was installed last Monday, but students have already earned tokens to purchase a book.

Samadhi Robles was the second student in the school to use the machine and she said she loved it.

"I'm excited!" Robles said. "I earned my token because my teacher said I was kind and I was always trying to help people. I also always tried to focus on my school work."

The best thing about the machine is once students purchase a book from it, they get to keep it and take it home with them.

"It's a great solution to put books in our students' hands," Principal Kapuchuck said. "Students can take the books home and actually build home libraries, so I think this is a great initiative and I would love to see one in every school in America."

Principal Kapuchuck said once the machine gets low, they will continue to fill it with new titles for students.