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PARKERSBURG -- Discovery World on Market will hold its fourth annual Back-to-School Bash from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1.
Admission to the event will be free through sponsorship from WV Central Federal Credit Union.
Activities will include a bounce house, face painting by Veritas Classical Academy, balloon animals, oversized board games, music and vendors. Visitors also can register to win back-to-school door prizes.
The event will include the unveiling of a book vending machine funded by The Spartan Foundation and placed at Discovery World through a partnership with Wood County Schools.
"We are excited to host our annual Back-to-School Bash and have a new reading display we are excited to show off," Discovery World Executive Director Wendy Shriver said.
Discovery World is one of two community locations receiving a book vending machine through the school district. Another will be placed at the Emerson Public Library, while three machines will be installed at school locations.
Ashlee Beatty, director of curriculum and instruction for Wood County Schools, said the machines are intended to give children greater access to books throughout the school year.
For the past three years, Wood County Reads and Wood County Schools have coordinated the Golden Ticket Summer Reading Challenge. Beatty said the program has distributed more than 36,000 new books to young readers throughout Wood County.
"In an effort to provide opportunities for book access throughout the school year, Wood County Schools received grant funding through The Spartan Foundation to purchase five book vending machines," Beatty said.
The machines allow children to select books in a way similar to purchasing an item from a traditional vending machine. Details about how the Discovery World machine will be used were not included in the announcement.
More information about the Back-to-School Bash and other programs is available at dwonmarket.org.