cnet.com – From pithy tweets to Insta Novels on Instagram, libraries around the world are using social media to entertain and reach their audiences. “:ast summer, the New York Public Library wanted to make classic literature more enticing to young readers. You know, readers who are more likely to scroll through a text message than turn a page. So the NYPL created “Insta Novels,” digitized versions of classics designed to be read on a smartphone. Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland was the first classic to get the treatment. Others, including Charlotte Perkins’ The Yellow Wallpaper and Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, were hot on Alice’s heels. The books, complete with art and animation, are available on the NYPL’s Instagram page. The project, which included New York ad agency Mother, proved a huge success. Shortly after Insta Novels debuted, the NYPL racked up 100,000 new Instagram followers.

Insta Novels is just one example of how libraries, now celebrating National Library Week in the US, are leaning on social media to connect with patrons in the digital era. University of Liverpool Library tweets tongue-in-cheek admonishments, including a long-running gag imploring patrons not to remove “do not remove” signs. The Düsseldorf Public Libraries use Snapchat to reach young people and runs a popular blog called buchstabensuppe, or alphabet soup…”