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Vending Machine Containing Literature Comes To South Coast

Photo by the Squire Foundation
Short Story Dispenser

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.

Ashley Hollister with the Squire Foundation says this dispenser works like a free vending machine.

"Every time you touch one of the buttons on the machine, you get a story -- a one-minute, a three-minute or five-minute story.  And it's a moment for you to enjoy a piece of fiction, to have some momentary escape from whatever is going on in the world around you.  It's just really this beautiful, fulfilling cycle of endorsing the arts," she says.

Hollister says it represents an innovative concept in the dissemination of literature to the general public and a new addition to the cultural footprint of the region.

The short story dispenser is available at the Santa Barbara Public Market for the next year. By December, the Squire Foundation hopes to introduce a Spanish language short story dispenser.