Our mission, as an international publishing house, is to help you engage your community around literature, to spark an interest in literacy and literature. Short Edition offers so many random, quick bites of fiction and creative non-fiction, to help patrons, and soon-to-be patrons, learn to enjoy reading.
The idea of ‘creative idleness’ by reading for pleasure, can be a 1min, 3min, or 5min moment traveling through another story or realm. Because big ideas are often born in idle moments when reading a short story, poem, or comic strip.
Your library’s mission is also to invite culture in many different forms that seem conducive to Short Edition’s offer of free short literature to inspire all young, diverse creatives.
How to Build a Reading Culture
Content is key and we have been innovating over the past 12 years with writers worldwide, to help libraries, both large & small, reach this goal and offer various tools to create playful and memorable reading and writing experiences.
Simple, time-saving tools
To make your projects more engaging, fun, and the talk of the town.
Short Edition's hardware solutions are a microcosm of how your library - and city - raise literacy rates and encourage a reading culture.
Shine light on your innovation
Brand your Dispenser, Cube or Disc, in your own colors and tailor your content to your readers. Choose & change collections as often as you like or opt-in to our monthly thematic calendar
Librarians Say it Better
Enrichment and Civic Engagement
Amplify the Library's Efforts
Los Angeles is a place of innovation and opportunity. As part of that, it is the Los Angeles Public Library’s role to provide spaces and programs where creativity can blossom. LAPL Writes is one of those initiatives, encouraging local writers and authors to share their words with the world.
In a city known for its stories, we offer a platform for patrons to share theirs, in their own words, with the world. Short Edition has amplified this effort, by allowing them to delve into the world of short stories as well as participate in writing contests that can allow their stories to be read digitally and through the Short Edition Story Dispensers at our library.
Learn more about the project at lapubliclibrary.short-edition.com
Edwin Rodarte,
Senior Librarian Emerging Technologies & Collections
Los Angeles, California
enrichment and civic engagement
Encouraging a love for reading & writing
We have set up our Short Story Dispenser in the cafe space, so patrons can take a story to read while drinking a coffee. Other patrons pass by the dispenser on their way through the building, and almost all stop to look at the unique contraption, and most pause to take a story. In particular, parents passing by on their way to the Children's section often choose a story, likely knowing they will only have 1, 3, or 5 minutes to read while their kids play. We partner with a local literary organization to fill the dispenser with stories submitted by local writers. Some pieces have been published elsewhere, but for many writers, this may be the first time they see their name in print. Last spring we hosted a youth literary conference called Litcon, and to encourage participation & challenge students to submit stories for inclusion in the Short Story Dispenser. The winners were thrilled to have their stories printed alongside published authors.
Amanda Arthbuthnot,
Librarian - Service Design Lead, Calgary Public Library, Alberta, Canada
ENRICHMENT AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
The Boulder Public Library system is proud to own two Short Story Dispensers and one fantastic Cube!
We rotate our sharp looking illuminated story dispensers among our 3 branch libraries and when the CUBE is not in our main library's children's department, it can be found traveling to schools, museums, farmers markets and outreach programs all around town. Kids and adults LOVE discovering that a simple wave over a chosen button produces a wonderful piece of written word in the form of new fiction, revered poems, and thematic works. The stories are often printed on a LONG piece of paper--which brings further pleasure. Pay dirt! At the Boulder Public Library, we have showcased our student writers by programming the Cube to offer works by local authors. The interactive nature of the dispensers makes receiving a piece of writing exciting--as exhibited in the hands of some of our young adults, teens, and young readers.
Juliette León Bartsch
Director Marketing & Development,
Boulder, Colorado,
