SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/BCN) — Looking for something to read on BART? The transit agency has installed dispensers at the Richmond, Fruitvale and Pleasant Hill stations that spit out short stories for free.

The Pleasant Hill BART station is one of three stations with a new short-story dispenser offering free printed reading material to passengers. (Dan Brekke/KQED)

These days, most BART riders spend their travel time staring at their phones—and understandably so. In an increasingly digitized world accelerated by the isolation of the pandemic, our lives have migrated almost entirely online. But now, BART riders are able to use touchless Short Story Dispensers to receive free one-, three- and five-minute reads at Richmond, Fruitvale, and Pleasant Hill Stations, with another one coming soon to Montgomery Street Station. Local writers will have the chance to have their work published and distributed as part of the project after the one-year pilot, sponsored by the BART Communications Department and Art Program, is up and running.

Riders using the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in San Francisco will be able to read stories freely dispensed by kiosks under a partnership between the agency and Short Edition, according to a CBS SF report.

BART installed a short story dispenser at four stations. This image shows the one installed at Pleasanton Station. (Photo courtesy of BART).

BART has installed Short Story Dispensers at some of its stations, including the Richmond station. The touchless dispensers print out short stories for riders to read — for free. The stories are short reads, roughly one to three to five minutes long, and are printed on recyclable receipt paper, according to BART.

En avant les histoires ! (Photo Sncb)

Un distributeur original a fait son apparition dans la gare du Midi, à Bruxelles. Il distribue des histoires courtes aux voyageurs. Depuis un an, des distributeurs d’un nouveau genre ont fait leur apparition dans les gares.

“Short Story Dispenser — Select your reading time: 1 minute; 3 minutes; 5 minutes,”

Short Édition’s Short Story Dispenser was embedded in four pilot communities around the country through a project called “Fostering Creative Community Connections,” a partnership between the Public Library Association (PLA) and French publisher Short Édition, and made possible by a grant from the Knight Foundation.

The Short Story Dispenser’s touchless interface. (Photo: Jessie McKenna)

Beacon Hill’s The Station coffee shop has long been a hub of community activity and advocacy, hosting everything from meetings to artwork to a free pantry. Now it’s home to Washington State’s first Short Story Dispenser, courtesy of the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and French publisher Short Édition.

Cub’Edito est un dispositif plutôt sympathique pensé pour les jeunes. L’objectif est de les inciter à prendre goût à l’écriture et à la lecture.

Ces cubes sont installés dans des écoles ou des médiathèques. L’origine de cette idée vient de Short Edition, les fameux distributeurs d’histoires courtes qui prolifèrent en France et à l’étranger.
Nous avons voulu en savoir plus sur ce concept. Côme Sibieude, Directeur de projets éducatifs chez Short Edition s’est prêté au jeu des questions-réponses pour nous en parler...

Le Cub’Édito veut favoriser le goût de la lecture, voire de la création, dans les salles de classe © Short Édition

FLASH INFO — Du nouveau pour Short Édition. L’éditeur communautaire grenoblois, qui propose depuis plusieurs années des distributeurs d’histoires courtes dans les lieux publics, veut investir à présent les établissements d’enseignement.

È a Torino il primo centro commerciale nel mondo che vende solo oggetti e servizi ecosostenibili (Photo Claudia Giraud)

[...] "una zona relax sul tetto dell’edificio per massimo 2mila soci che potranno godersi la piscina panoramica con vista sul Monviso (oltre alla SPA e a un cocktail bar) e provare l’iconico Dispenser per racconti brevi della casa editrice francese Short Edition che racconta: “quattro distributori all’aperto di racconti brevi consegneranno la letteratura scritta dai nostri scrittori in tutto il mondo, quelli della Scuola Holden, i membri della Green Pea e la saggezza dei filosofi classici, Pericle, Socrate, Platone e Aristotele, premendo un pulsante”."

This new creative opportunity comes from the French company Short Edition, creator of the Short Story Dispenser.

To become a writer, you simply need to write, but becoming published is a whole different story. Philly Storied City is giving Philadelphians the opportunity to do just that. A new and free local initiative recently opened submissions for a project that is meant to promote creativity for all and also offer a way for writers to gain a larger audience.