A School Librarian Is Delivering Books to Her Students via Drone

Though no one can be sure when public schools, shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, will open again, one school librarian in Virginia is actively making sure her kids have books and reading supplies readily available for the foreseeable future. Kelly Passek, a librarian within the Montgomery County public school district has begun delivering books to her students via drone—and this might just make her the coolest school librarian in the world.

As reported by CBS News, Passek’s family began using Wing, an “air delivery service” from Google’s parent company Alphabet that specializes in medical, grocery, and homegoods drop-offs. What if, Passek thought, Wing could deliver book to her kids currently being homeschooled?

“As a school librarian, it is extremely important to me to have connections with my students,” Passek said in a promotional video for Wing. She continues, “We need to use the available technologies to continue to provide our students with access to our resources.”

When Passek brought the idea to her superintendent Mark Miear, he thought the idea was a stroke of genius. 

“Montgomery County Public Schools will be the first public school system in the world to use Wing to deliver library books to our students,” Passek told CBS. “We are thrilled for this opportunity to have a really unique way to deliver resources to our students and do it practically on demand.” 

The Wing book-delivery service kicked off in the second week of June to much success. Students of Montgomery County Public Schools can pick from their library’s 150,000+ titles using an online form, Passek packs up the books in Wing delivery boxes, and then students can anxiously await the drone’s arrival, which will drop the books right in their front yard.

Passek encourages her students to sign up for book deliveries via Wing’s website. Summer reading has never been cooler.