The stories are printed on eco-friendly papyrus paper. Image: REUTERS/Simon Dawson

Once upon a time, in one of the busiest parts of one of the busiest cities in the world, the people were so busy, they didn’t have time to finish reading lengthy works of fiction. So three vending machines were set up, dishing out not chocolate bars or cans of drink, but free short stories to those rushing by.

French creation, the short story dispenser, are now springing up around the world.

The Short Story Dispenser was invented by Short Edition, a French publishing house. Since 2015, the machines have been dispensing short stories on receipt paper that range from one to five minute reads, free of charge. The machines have proven so popular in France that they're now springing up around the world.

The Death of Mr Robinson, a one-minute read printed by a free short story vending machine in Canary Wharf station. The story was commissioned for the project from novelist Anthony Horowitz. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

‘Short story stations’ in Canary Wharf print one- three- and five-minute reads on demand “Every single day,” says Paresh Raichura, “I’m on the lookout for something new to read.” On his hour-long commute to Canary Wharf, where he works for the Financial Ombudsman, he picks up Time Out or a local paper or the freesheet Metro, but says: “I’ve stopped reading all the long novels I used to read.”

The machines, made by French company Short Édition, will dispense free one, three and five-minute stories … with the first penned by Anthony Horowitz. Weary city workers will have a new way of passing the time on their commute once the UK’s first short-story vending machines are installed at Canary Wharf this week.

CBS News - Let There Be Lit

Reading for pleasure is at an all-time low in the United States. A recent government report revealed Americans read for fun about 17 minutes each day. And the percentage of Americans indulging in leisure reading on any given day dropped by nearly 30 percent between 2003 and 2017. One solution to our short attention spans and even shorter spurts of free time are short stories. They are low commitment and high gratitude, and can transport readers to far-flung places.

Siobhan Reardon and Chellie Cameron give the dispenser a spinPhiladelphia International Airport

Being stranded at the airport usually means scrolling through social media, or picking up a newspaper or magazine. But those doesn't need to be your only options at Philadelphia International Airport, where a free, no-WiFi-required alternative was unveiled Friday: a Short Story Dispenser, put in place by the Free Library of Philadelphia.

This was an idea of the Knight Foundation.

Wichita is one of four communities receiving Short Édition short story dispensers through the generosity of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The dispensers are easy to use: push a button and then your story will print within seven seconds.

Once upon a time, a kiosk dreamed of delivering something more exciting than tickets.

A customer at Cafe Zoetrope in San Francisco reading one of the short stories doled out by Short Edition’s story dispenser.Credit...Olivier Alexandre/Short Edition

Stories are shared many ways. They are recounted in books and magazines. They are read aloud around the campfire at night. They are randomly dispensed from stand-alone kiosks, doled out on strips of paper like grocery store receipts. Wait, what was that last one? Leave it to the French, with their love of Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir, to revive literature in the era of hot takes, fast news and smartphone addiction.

Francis Ford Coppola and the Short Story Dispenser

I loved the idea of a vending machine, a dispensing machine that doesn’t dispense potato chips or beer or coffee for money but gives you art. I especially liked the fact that you didn’t put money in. – Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola

Thusly did filmmaker Coppola arrange for a free Short Edition story vending machine to be installed in Café Zoetrope, his San Francisco restaurant.

A Short Story Dispenser at work.

The future of the publishing industry is, increasingly, virtual. This week, news broke that one of the final bastions of print publishers — Fortune 500 company Barnes and Noble, Inc. — has abruptly laid off 1,800 full-time employees. Amazon's dominance over the book world seems uncrackable, and everyone's e-readers can fit more books on them anyway. But one innovation has broken new ground for voracious readers who prefer their next story stay in the physical realm. The Short Story Dispenser, which made a splash last month at CES 2018