https://www.metv.com/stories/henry-winkler-used-some-of-his-popularity-as-the-fonz-to-teach-kids-about-shakespeare

What a duo: The Bard and The Fonz!

the show about the library? meant a huge amount of kids signed up for library cards.

Ayyyy! That's awesome...

I am watching the show through for the first time, and today I literally JUST watched the Hamlet episode. Good God, it was GLORIOUS plotwise and actingwise and probably my favorite OVERALL so far!!!!!
Winkler just brought such emotional sincerity to Fonzarelli discovering the depth and magnitude of Hamlet, like when he was impressed with the plot LOL. And what made a great episode legendary was the raw convo with Ritchie about his suicidal thoughts:'(
That was so thoughtful and a huge turning point for me.

It was similar to the episode where Fonzie "drops in" to school, which I consider the first truly emotionally touching episode, and the Christmas one that followed also leaned in to the tragic aspect of Fonzie.

Having Fonzie a more complex character was probably the best decision they could have made, enhancing an already fnatastic show! Saw this firsthand and was shocked!

Pretty sure the MeTV article OP posted is AI generated cuz it doesn't give any years, pictures, or specific details, but anyway...here's what it was talking about in 1977!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmijNIL8xxw
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GaqnhBzXgAApOAm.png

Glad to see Winkler apparently helped Shakespeare be cool outside the show, but I'm sure he did it with the Hamlet episode in 1975's "A Star is Bored" too!
Bet a bunch of kids watching in the 70s suddenly wanted to check Hamlet out after seeing Fonzie nail the role within the ep!