Interactive story dispenser introduced at Mattapoisett Library
Short stories from an interactive story dispenser can be found at the Mattapoisett Library. Photos by Mari Huglin 
Short stories can be left for other patrons to enjoy. 
The Mattapoisett Library introduced the dispenser in early spring. 
There are three buttons for three different age groups for stories. 
The dispenser is at the perfect height for children to enjoy. 
Parents and adults can also participate in the story dispenser. 
The machine spits out an original, author submitted short story or poem. 
The Mattapoisett Library plays host to this machine. 
The machine is eco-friendly and uses heat to print the stories, not ink. 
Stories for all ages can be found. 
The company is French that created the dispenser.
Short stories from an interactive story dispenser can be found at the Mattapoisett Library. Photos by Mari Huglin
Short stories can be left for other patrons to enjoy.
The Mattapoisett Library introduced the dispenser in early spring.
There are three buttons for three different age groups for stories.
The dispenser is at the perfect height for children to enjoy.
Parents and adults can also participate in the story dispenser.
The machine spits out an original, author submitted short story or poem.
The Mattapoisett Library plays host to this machine.
The machine is eco-friendly and uses heat to print the stories, not ink.
Stories for all ages can be found.
The company is French that created the dispenser.
MATTAPOISETT — With one press of a button, the world is at your fingertips at the Mattapoisett Library with its recent installation of an interactive story dispenser.
The library, located at 7 Barstow St., brought French company Short Edition’s machine into the main lobby. The Short Edition machine dispenses original short stories and poems for free.
There are three buttons participants can press for stories and poems— children, young adult or adult. The stories are all publicly submitted and are not written by artificial intelligence. The stories can be left at the library or taken home to read.
Library Director Jenny Martin said they received the machine after former director Susan Pizzolato applied for multiple grants, hoping to make the library a more intergenerational and interactive place.
Eventually the library received a grant and got permission for the company to introduce the machine.
Martin said she has seen positive reactions and excitement from the community with some children making a “beeline” for the dispenser right when they enter the library.
“I think people have just kind of enjoyed the novelty of it and just seeing what they'll get and I think they're gonna love it even more when it's community stories,” Martin said.
One advantage of the dispenser is the intergenerational aspect and how it connects the community. Children, siblings, parents and grandparents can all enjoy separate stories but read them together.
Martin hopes for local writers to submit local stories that can spread area history and cause “delightful moments of connection”.
“I can see someone pushing the button and then getting a story and being like ‘I know that person, that's my neighbor or that's my aunt’ or seeing who wrote the story,” Martin said.
Head of Circulation Services Ann Schattle said she has enjoyed the implementation of the machine too.
“It's been really delightful to watch people discover it and first see a strange contraption in the library,” Schattle said.
The machine is fully sustainable and eco-friendly since it dispenses fully recyclable and compostable paper. There is no ink or toner cartridges needed for printing since the dispenser uses heat to print the text on paper.
The library often does themed stories to celebrate certain months like women’s history, black history or poetry month.
Schattle enjoys that the printed stories are a low-stakes way of people reading and getting involved at the library.
“It's a unique offering and it just adds, it's another way for people to use the library without having to have the responsibility of bringing something back,” Schattle said.
