New York Public Library initiates ‘Insta Novels’ on Instagram

The New York Public Library (NYPL) has established a program of public-domain literary classics produced as Instagram stories in order to test Instagram users’ interest in long-form reading, reports Publishing Perspectives.

Available through the library’s Instagram account, the ‘Insta Novels’ are furnished with ‘Instagram-specific design’ including stills and videos, and are uploaded to Instagram’s ‘Stories’ feature, says the library. Each page of the book becomes a slide in the story, and the ‘Highlights’ feature is used to save each novel as a work of digital literature that can be accessed at any time.

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (delivered in two parts) is the first Insta Novel to be released, with Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Kafka’s The Metamorphosis also forthcoming.

The NYPL hopes the program will encourage Instagram users to seek out ebooks or apply for a digital NYPL card. ‘This project is directly in line with the library’s mission to make the world’s knowledge accessible to all,’ said NYPL head of external communications Carrie Walsh.

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