IFLA officially announced the winners of the 2024 International Marketing Awards on May 27, 2024. The RPR: Immersed in Classic Literature Project submitted by the Shanghai Library was honored with a "Special Mention" by IFLA, the significant international organization representing the interests of libraries, information institutions, and their users, with over 1,500 member institutions in more than 150 countries worldwide. The International Marketing Award, initiated by the IFLA Management and Marketing Section, has been in operation since 2002. This special honor marks the fourth IFLA marketing-related award received by the Shanghai Library since its first win in 2017.

IFLA gave a high regard to The RPR: Immersed in Classic Literature Project. IFLA Management and Marketing Section’s International Marketing Award Jury observes that the Shanghai Library’s RPR: Immersed in Classic Literature Project offers innovative reproductions. The multi-character suspense script breathes new life into classic literary works, providing participants with an immersive reading experience. The 3-hour interactive role-playing seamlessly blends gaming with reading, effectively igniting the reading interest of the general public, especially young adults, in classic literature. The project's low production costs and reasonable pricing strategy make it sustainable and scalable, while its promotion to other libraries and schools enables a wider audience to benefit from it. In a society where fragmented information prevails and deep reading is on the decline, the Shanghai Library has made valuable efforts to encourage people to rediscover classics and engage in deep reading. Looking ahead, it is hoped that the Shanghai Library will establish a digital immersive reading space, allowing readers from different regions and even across borders to interact and read together.

The RPR Immersed in Classic Literature project has been open for free reservation to the public since the official opening of the Shanghai Library East in September 2022. As of April 2024, the project has served nearly 100 batches of around 700 readers. Currently, the project has launched ten sub-projects, including The Count of Monte Cristo, Dream of the Red Chamber, and A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains, and metaverse versions of Ode to Youth, Tracks in the Snowy Forest and Red Rock. These initiatives have also been introduced to serve at national sibling libraries such as the Nanjing Library.