Short Story Dispenser at Pleasant Hill BART Station. Photographer: Maria Avila/BART

In unassuming corners of metro and train stations in cities all over the world, beyond the ticket machines and behind the throngs of people, there are vending machines that spit out stories. Even though I’ve apparently walked past one of the short story dispensers installed in four Bay Area Rapid Transit stations several times, I never knew they existed – until last week. 

Image courtesy of the Bay Area Rapid Transit.

Rapid transit riders with a literary bent in San Francisco can compete for a $200 honorarium and the chance to have their stories dispensed in the system's kiosks, according to a press release.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit, which offers riders short stories dispensed from dispensers at certain transit stations, has called for entries for its first short story fiction contest, called "BART Lines," in celebration of the transit system's 50th anniversary.

The Short Édition fiction dispensers print out stories that take one, three or five minutes to read. Courtesy BART / BART

In an attempt to regain attention after a pandemic ridership drop, BART is willing to try anything — including commissioning new literary works.

The transit agency has started soliciting entries for a short fiction contest, the finalists of which will be available via story dispensers on BART platforms to be printed and read during a train ride home.

“(People) don’t think about BART and art. We’re trying to change that,” said BART Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost. “So many transit systems across the world have beautiful art, and we’re trying to find ways we can afford right now to bring art in the stations.

The library can change the dispenser's categories and the story content over time. City Of Eugene

The Eugene Airport worked with another city entity recently to install a dispenser at the top of the escalator. No, it’s not for hand sanitizer. It’s for stories. The Eugene Public Library Foundation funded the dispenser, which prints short stories on wide, recycled receipt paper. Will O’Hearn is Director of Library Services.
He told KLCC, “It’s touch-less buttons, so you just wave your hand over one of the three areas, one says ‘local’ and that’s purple, and then there’s a red one that says ‘world-wide,’ and then there’s one for kids that’s kind of a bluish green.”

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- While kids are commuting with their parents, SEPTA hopes families will use that time to discover the joy of reading. They kicked off the colorful, story-filled literacy campaign Wednesday in South Philadelphia called "Come Aboard the Reading Promise."

The Short Story Dispenser allows visitors to print out a story or poem to take home with them

“On March 5, Planet Word installed D.C.’s first Short Édition Story Dispenser. Located in the museum’s entryway, it provides free access to hundreds of short stories or poems at the touch of a button.

Los dispensadores de cuentos cortos son una forma creativa e innovadora de impulsar la lectura

Bibliotecas, universidades o cafeterías son algunos de los lugares en los cuales se pueden encontrar estos curiosos y llamativos dispensadores de literatura breve.
Estos quioscos literarios dan una nueva vida al arte de la narración al ofrecer de manera gratuita pequeñas historias impresas cuyos tiempos de lectura van de uno a cinco minutos. Detrás de estos artilugios se encuentra la editorial Short Édition, la cual lo creó con la intención de distribuir los cuentos de sus autores.

There’s a new kind of vending machine on the South Coast that pops out literature. The Squire Foundation and the Santa Barbara Public Market are introducing the Short Edition Short Story Dispenser to the Santa Barbara Community.

The Short-Story Dispenser resides at The Station coffee shop on Beacon Hill, for stories on demand.

Customers of The Station coffee shop on Beacon Hill can now grab a free story to read with their cup of joe.
The Seattle Public Library’s first short-story dispenser, produced by French publishing company Short Édition and supported by donors to the Foundation, was installed at the café near the Beacon Hill light rail station in December.

The Short Story Stations at Canary Wharf are the first of their kind in the UK

AWARD-WINNING author, poet and activist Bernardine Evaristo has joined forces with Canary Wharf to make short stories from up and coming black authors available for free to thousands of people throughout Black History Month.

The Booker Prize winner has selected five black authors to have their stories published in Canary Wharf’s Short Story Stations – the innovative vending machines that will dispense one, three and five minute stories for free to help raise the profile of black writers.

DAVID PARRY/PA

Irenosen Okojie, Bernardine Evaristo and Nicola Williams unveil their short stories, which have been added to the Short Story Stations at Canary Wharf, London, to celebrate Black History Month

Black Britain: Writing Back with Bernardine Evaristo, Short Story Stations, Canary Wharf London, photogr. David Parry, PA Media

Award-winning author, poet and activist Bernardine Evaristo has joined forces with Canary Wharf to make short stories from up and coming black authors available for free to thousands of people throughout Black History Month. The Booker Prize winner has selected five black authors to have their stories published in Canary Wharf’s Short Story Stations – the innovative vending machines that will dispense one, three and five minute stories for free to help raise the profile of black writers.