New York Public Library Adds Full Books to Instagram Stories

Having a hard time getting your kid to read? The New York Public Library has an interesting solution.

It's bringing "full classic books" to a place kids already frequent: Instagram Stories. "Some of the greatest stories ever told… told on Instagram Stories," the NYPL wrote of its new "Insta Novels" series.

The library is starting off the series with a banger: Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. To start reading it, head over to the New York Public Library's Instagram profile (@nypl) and tap the circle labeled "Alice Part 1" in their Story Highlights (below their bio). Part two will be available tomorrow.

The format offers an ebook reader-like experience. When reading, you can hold your thumb down on the screen to pause, tap the right side of the screen to flip to the next page, or the left side of the screen to go back.

In the future, the NYPL plans to make Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper and Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis available in this format.

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"We want people to understand that libraries aren't just those brick-and-mortar places full of dusty books," NYPL's Chief Branch Library Officer Christopher Platt told The Wall Street Journal.

Instagram first introduced Story Highlights in December. Unlike regular Stories, which disappear after 24 hours, Story Highlights stay on your profile until you decide to remove them. To create your own Story Highlight, tap the "New" circle on the left side of your Instagram profile, choose something from your archive, select a cover image, and give your Story Highlight a name.