This vending machine prints out short stories in public places

The French city of Grenoble recently had a fun little initiative to spread some literature to its people. They installed vending machines that dispenses short stories instead of soda and snacks. With 1-minute, 3-minute and 5-minute buttons, these short story dispensers allow citizens to indicate how much free time they have and take advantage of those few minutes to read a little.

The dispensers were installed in public spaces such as the town hall, the tourist office, libraries and in social centers. The idea behind this initiative is to encourage people to bring back the habit of reading as a past-time instead of poking on their phones all day. The Mayor of Grenoble, Eric Piolle, is promoting this initiative in collaboration with local publishing start-up Short Édition, which created the device. The government believes that this initiative has two benefits for its citizens: first, it spreads culture and promotes reading; and secondly, they encourage citizens not to use their cell phones so much, and think of other ways to pass time.
“The idea came to us in front of a vending machine containing chocolate bars and drinks. We said to ourselves that we could do the same thing with good quality popular literature to occupy these little unproductive moments,” Christophe Sibieude, co-founder and head of Short Édition told Agence-France Presse.

The service is free, and as of now, eight machines have already been installed throughout the city. The project non-profitable since the goal is to simplify the citizens’ access to reading.