Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Is Instagram Bringing Back the Classic Novel?


A mere generation ago, reading a classic novel was a rite of passage. Far more than mere required reading at school, summertimes often led to long days of lounging in the shade with nothing more than a book and our imaginations. Fast forward 30-40 years and we can’t help but notice that the current generation of teenagers doesn’t really read. Not books, at least. While the youth of today do in fact consume copious quantities of the written word, those words, for the most part, emerge from screens in the form of trending tweets and short articles like this one. And even then, for every minute spent reading there’s perhaps five minutes spent on Instagram.


Enter the New York Public Library. Rather than accept the death of novel reading the Library decided to approach readers a new way, and bring books to the medium of readers’ choice. In the summer of 2018, The New York Public Library began sharing complete books through Instagram Stories to wild success and acclaim. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll was the first title brought to live in the inventive Instagram post, followed up by The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman later in the year. Readers could enjoy a seamless literary experience through their smartphones as they sip their lates, and while some purists may bemoan the lack of a physical book, other applaud the audacity and inventiveness.


Looking for some timeless titles? Visit our online library at www.talekey.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more, accessible anytime from your favorite devices.

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