For National Library Week (April 6-12), the Cosby High library team filmed and posted an Instagram reel that may have broken the school library internet. As of press time, the reel had more than 13.7 million views, more than 9,000 comments and nearly 760,000 likes.
“We wanted to create a video to get our students laughing, highlight some new books, and hopefully draw more students to our page for library updates and events,” said assistant librarian Nina Beltran. “We were floored when the reel started to get so much attention!”
The humorous short drew the eyes and comments of notable figures including actress Jennifer Garner, online influencers the Holderness Family and Senator Cory Booker, as well as authors like Mel Robbins, Marie Lu and Samira Ahmed. ESPN even shared the reel.
What took around 30 minutes to create has had a tremendous impact. Prior to the viral post on April 9, the library had fewer than 50 followers. Their account now has well over 10,000.
“We hope that people see what a welcoming and joyful place the library is,” Nina said, “and that it is an integral part of the school community.”