Nearly 40,000 people read 'Alice in Wonderland' on Instagram

New York Public Library's InstaNovels
NY Public Library
Jefferson Graham | USA TODAY | 6:26 pm EDT August 24, 2018

The old classic novel "Alice in Wonderland," went viral on Instagram this week, spruced up for the digital age as a colorful, animated Instagram Story that leads into the complete text of the 1865 novel. 

The #Instanovels project is an attempt to remind younger internet users about libraries and to plug its free e-book program and popular podcasts. Some 39,673 people opened up Alice and stayed with it to the end. 

"I think it's marvelous," Christoper Platt, chief branch library officer for the New York Public Library, says of the reaction. "People are engaging with a classic book and talking to their friends about it. That's great."

The New York library system counts a robust 2.5 million Twitter followers, who come to get book recommendations, a podcast often hosted by two librarians making book recommendations, 300,000 likes on Facebook and 215,000 on Instagram. 

The #Instanovels project reaped the library's biggest Instagram follower gain ever, with 21,000 new followers. 

If you want to borrow a physical book from the New York Public Library, you need to be a resident of the state to get a library card. But you don't need a card to read Alice on Instagram, nor to read e-books from the New York Library's SimplyE collection. 

The caveat is the out-of-towners can read only e-books that like Alice, are in the public domain, but Platt says the New York library works with many local libraries to make more current titles available to their card-holding members. Other library systems have similar e-book programs, and most are tied to the library card. 

On Twitter, the library touts "office hours," for librarians to offer tips on new books to read, and it's become a popular feature that's a clear antidote to Amazon, which just focuses on "the top 1 percent of books," Platt says. "We get you to the rest."

Next up for the New York Public Library is the release of two more InstaNovels, "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins and Gilman and "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka. Like Alice, they, too, are in the public domain. 

The library worked with creative agency Mother in New York to produce the content. 

Follow USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham (@jeffersongraham) on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 

Originally Published 1:59 pm EDT August 23, 2018
Updated 6:26 pm EDT August 24, 2018
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