The 10 Best Book-Related Instagram Accounts

This blog post was way harder to put together than I’d ever anticipated. I knew I’d have no trouble putting together a list of 10—there are a lot of book-related feeds out there that I love. Then we spent a week asking for nominations via captions in 6 different Instagram posts, and boy, you are all super passionate about this as well! We received mentions of 70 total accounts from 111 nominations. That amounts to 26 public libraries, 12 personal feeds, 11 book shops, 10 universities, 5 publishers, 3 reference/archives, and 3 other. To see the full list of follower-nominations (plus reasons why) see here.

Without further ado, here are the 10 best book-related Instagram accounts!

10. Books 4 Kids (2,250 followers, 369 posts*)
This feed of children’s book recommendations is appropriately run by a children’s book librarian. She covers a wide range of ages and interests. Her captions remind me of our #reviewontues posts, just that they are all recommended reads.

9. The Morgan Library & Museum (1,651 followers, 177 posts)
The Morgan always has great inside looks into the collections, we are especially fond of whenever they post early illustrations of beloved authors such as Jean de Brunhoff’s Babar the Elephant or Beatrix Potter furry animals. Plus their posts in support of their recent exhibition Handmade were really engaging and humorous.

8. Strand Bookstore (13,942 followers, 966 posts)
Strand’s #staffpickfriday video series is great. It is nice to put a face to the staff recommendations list. It’s fun when their resident dog Gizmo (he has his own Strand employee nametag) helps sometimes with posts. Bonus: They post photos of celebrities book shopping!

7. US National Archives (2,615 followers, 339 posts)
With the tagline “the nation’s record keeper,” it is no surprise that the US National Archives’ posts are always timely and on point. We especially enjoyed their recent Christmas-related posts, from an analysis surrounding the facts on Santa from the Office of War Information to a photo of Nancy Reagan on Santa’s (Mr. T’s) lap. We love consuming their tidbits of history—the captions are sometimes crazy-long, but always worth the read.

6. Harper Perennial (1,936 followers, 421 posts)
The feed for one of Harper Collins’ paperback imprints. Their captions range from existential to quirky—we particularly love their series where they show just a sliver of a book and focus on the atmosphere in which it is being read. We also get a funny glimpse into their office life, whether it is an editor sitting in a sunbeam or a broken fridge, no post ever seems out of place. For a book publisher, it is refreshing to see their feed is less self-promotion and more general book-loving. Bonus: They sometimes feature a cute dog named Charlie who loves to read (or at least stick his snout in a book.)

5. Jefferson Market Library - NYPL (598 followers, 375 posts)
Not to be biased, but the Jefferson Market branch of NYPL is really fun. We love their chalkboard quotes and other views of the branch. They also have a really fun way of finding the perfect photos from their books to illustrate current and historic events. Photos of their gorgeous building and surrounding neighborhood are much appreciated as well.

4. American Antiquarian Society (4,266 followers, 1,716 posts)
American Antiquarian is the founder of some of our favorite hashtags, particularly #marbledmonday (a beautiful look at end papers) and #frankenbooks (exactly what it sounds like). They do a wonderful job of displaying their vast archives, and always make sure to give some great background information. They also do an excellent job of engaging followers in the comments.

3. University of San Francisco Gleeson Library (1,652 followers, 433 posts)
We first met Gleeson Library in the week leading up to last year’s inaugural #libraryshelfie day. They forever endeared themselves to us in helping to promote our challenge to post shelfies (selfies but of your bookshelf!), and even sent us buttons with photos of their students participating. They are really great at mixing student/campus information, looks behind the scenes, and gorgeous shots from their campus.

2. LeClaire Library (113,873 followers, 305 posts)
Coming off a well-deserved run on Instagram’s Suggested User list, LeClaire Library is a fantastic example of small libraries doing great things. Their mascot, Stretch T. Giraffe, appears in most of their photos, and adds amazing personality to the feed. They always have good recommendations on what to read/watch next, and celebrate all the weird holidays (from National Science Fiction Day to National Wear a Plunger on Your Head Day) in funny fashion. Stretch even came to visit last February as part of a #mascotexchange program, and helped us with our posts for a full week.

1. Burlingame Public Library (1,232 followers, 307 posts)
Burlingame is the undisputed King (Queen?) of #bookfacefriday. For those of you unfamiliar with bookfaces, the basic concept is to take a book with a body part on the cover—usually a face—and hold it in front of your own face to line up. Every week we post our favorite submission to the NYPL Instagram account, and every week I blindly end up picking their entry. Their feed is creative and fun and thoughtful, and I admire the way they seamlessly mix in video.

Honorable Mentions: Other Favorite Hashtags (that aren’t ours, of course)
#tinytuesday - Fisher Rare Book Library. Little figurines accentuate posts.
#libraryken - Melbourne University Library. A Ken doll dressed up like a librarian goes on adventures around campus.

Did I miss your favorite book-related Instagram? Is there an amazing hashtag out there that everyone should know about? Let us know who you love and why in the comments.

*All follower/post counts are from the time I wrote this post

Comments

Patron-generated content represents the views and interpretations of the patron, not necessarily those of The New York Public Library. For more information see NYPL's Website Terms and Conditions.

NYPL's Top 10 Book-Related Instagram Accounts

Loving books as I do, I follow a number of the accounts on your list. My favorite is the LeClaire Library, followed by the American Antiquarian Society.

YA Bookstagram Account

For your consideration: We'd like to humbly nominate ourselves for most awesomest YA-focused Instagram account! See our pics @EpicReads!

Best book related instagram account miss

You missed PowellsBooks! They're one of the biggest independent book stores in the United States located in Oregon. Their account is awesome. 12.8k followers 1,042 posts as of 7/30/15