Instagram, really? For book reading? Yep. And we are for any new idea that makes reading books more accessible!
The NY Public Library wants you to read more books–on Instagram
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The New York Public Library has published a digital version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as an Instagram story–with more to come.
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The library partnered with the design firm Mother in New York to create and upload a digital version of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland to its Instagram story, and there’s more to come. Over the next few months, the NYPL will also upload Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” illustrated by the design studio Buck, and Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis, illustrated by designer César Pelizer. The beautiful drawings for the digitized Alice in Wonderland are by conceptual illustrator Magoz, and perfectly capture the classic’s colorful whimsy.
It’s a clever use of technology, bringing literature to a digital platform that 400 million people are looking at every day.
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“Preserving the value of education and reading, especially in today’s political climate, is something we should all try and be more conscious of. So while, yes, it’s nice to see Instagram Stories of cute puppy pics or vacation sunsets, why not demand more from your social media platform? Why not turn it into a tool for greater public access to literature?”
-Corinna Falusi, partner and chief creative officer of Mother in New York.
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A more exciting reading experience
These aren’t just digital books that you can tap through like you would on an e-reader. Besides the custom illustrations, there are also video and images inside of the books. And there’s more…If you tap quickly through the pages, a small animation comes to life in the corner of your screen–almost like an old-school flip-book. The detail brings the experience closer to what it feels like to flip quickly through the pages of a much-loved book to find your favorite chapter.
Most stories disappear after 24 hours–but in this case, the NYPL’s Instagram will add all of the digital books to its “highlights” bar, located below information about the account on its main profile page. It turns the NYPL’s Instagram into a digital bookshelf that readers can access at any time…
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Instagram novels: A gateway drug to get people hooked on books
The project is mainly a gateway to introducing readers to its e-book collection, which can be accessed through the library’s e-reader app SimplyE.
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“We hope bringing books to social media, surprising them with classics as they scroll through their feed, will spark an interest in reading that leads them to visit their local libraries, download our e-books, and keep turning pages.” -Richert Schnorr, NYPL’s director of digital media.
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So far the books on Instagram idea is a hit
The day of the Insta Novels launch was the NYPL’s most successful day on Instagram Stories, with more than 450,000 total impressions. The library’s account gained 7,100 followers, which is 56 times its normal growth rate.
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