Just like a vending machine which, here in the UK, more commonly supply gummy sweets or soft drinks, the dispensers will allow users to select their preferences.

People will be able to decide what length of literature they have time to read, be it a three minute story, which is provided on a 8 x 60 cm piece of paper, or a five minute story, which comes up twice the size.

The scheme is the result of a collaboration between the founders of publishing company, Short Edition, and the mayor of Grenoble, Eric Piolle.

“The idea came to us in front of a vending machine containing chocolate bars and drinks,” Christophe Sibieude, head of Short Edition, tells Agence-France Presse.

“We said to ourselves that we could do the same thing with good quality popular literature to occupy these little unproductive moments.”

The plan will see eight machines peppered around the city in busy social areas, from the tourist office to the town hall.

Most importantly, though, the machines will be free to use – because you can’t put a price on education.

French city introduces short story dispensers to lure people away from their phones