The short story dispensers located across campus are now seeking content submissions from local writers on top of Penn State students and faculty members.

Penn State launched the short story dispensers on campus and in Schlow Library earlier this year to become the first institution to collaborate with Short Edition of Grenoble, France.

The dispensers allow you to choose a short story that takes anywhere between one and five minutes to read. Two of the four dispensers on campus are located at the entrances of the Pattee and Paterno Libraries.

Only those with an active Penn State e-mail address were able to submit their work for review and possible distribution through the dispensers. Writers across Centre County will now have the opportunity to submit content beginning on November 1.

“Since Schlow has a Short Edition dispenser from the start, it made sense to explore the possibility of adding community stories to our community content,” said Hailley Fargo, student engagement librarian for Penn State University Libraries.

“I know that we have a great community of writers in Centre County. We are excited for their contributions and being able to publish local work on our Short Edition dispensers!”

Almost 30,000 stories have been printed from dispensers on campus, and another 3,500 from the dispenser at Schlow. This gives writers in Centre County a unique experience in publishing and allows them to share their works with a larger audience. 

Short stories may not exceed 8,000 characters and poetry may not exceed 7,000 characters. All genres are accepted in terms of short stories as long as they are about literary fiction. Historical fiction must include an imaginative story. 

Stories can be submitted online where writers can also view the complete rules and instructions.