Ottawa gets one of four new Indigenous book vending machines
Posted May 12, 2022 01:20:00 AM.
Ottawa is getting one of four vending machines in Canada for the Indigenous Project, a series of inaugural book vending machines built for Indigenous students.
Brian Warren, founder1 and executive director of Start2Finish, announced the unveiling on Wednesday, May 11 and spoke to The Sam Laprade Show on Wednesday, May 11, on the same day the vending machine was revealed at Assumption Catholic Elementary School in Vanier.
As Warren explains, the project utilizes vending machines to distribute culturally relevant books to Indigenous youth in schools and community centres at no cost.
The program, he adds, aims to help students build their learning pathway by providing equal access to quality education that celebrates and empowers children to build strong connections to their history, family and selves.
“We’ve got books that have been designed to come out of those particular slots and communities of complexity — it’s not equal, but we can make our communities equitable,” Warren said.
Once a month, children will be given a token to put into the machine, which will then dispose a book to them of their choosing that they’ll be able to keep.
Saskatoon, Winnipeg and London will be the other three cities receiving a vending machine.
“We got a three-year commitment but I want [the project] to be sustainable. We want people in these communities to have fresh literature and stimulation in their home to dream and develop imagination.”
Start2Finish is a national non-profit that is in over 70 communities and provides equity-focused, trauma-informed approach to educational support for Canadian children and students grades one through six. It also focuses on fitness and literacy and helping the next generation grow.
Listen to the full interview with Brian Warren on The Sam Laprade Show below:
