12 tips for getting the most out of Libby
By: Adam Sockel, Marketing Communications Specialist
Readers around the world have fallen in love with our new app Libby. The new interface, simple one-tap experience and all-in-one shelf have made finding your next great read easier and faster than ever. Libby is designed to enable our developers to continuously improve existing features and add new ones, which means there is always something new to discover in the app. Here are our favorite things you can do in Libby that you might not have known about:
Adjust the playback speed
Switching between common playback speeds is as easy as tapping small clock icon at the top of the screen when you’re listening to an audiobook. These include standard breakdowns between 1-2 times normal playback speed. You can also adjust the playback speed by tapping and holding the clock icon and then dragging it down the screen with your finger until you find your preferred speed. Speed listeners will be excited to know that you can go all the way to 3 times normal listening speed.
Displaying book progress
Did you know you can see exactly how long you have left in the chapter you’re reading, how many pages you have left in the book and even what percentage complete with the book you’re currently at? In the reader, you’ll see your total book progress by default. Tap the page number label (above the timeline) once to show the pages left in the current chapter. Tap the label again to show your total book progress as a percentage. The same can be done with audiobooks. Tap the [Time] Left label (above the timeline) cycle through different time displays: total time elapsed in the audiobook, time left in current chapter, and total progress as a percentage.
Peek at the Page Count
You can also quickly see what page your on (and out of how many total) by swiping up and holding the screen while in reading mode. The chapter you’re on and page counts will appear. Simply remove your finger from the screen to have it disappear.
Tapping underlined texts
There are lots of great options available in Libby that you can find by tapping any text underlined with dots in the app. For example, tapping the underlined links on your Loans page will let you filter your loans (to books, audiobooks, or all loans) and sort the page (by due date, date added, or alphabetically by title or author).
Tagging titles
Tags help you organize titles you’ve read, want to read, loved, or hated. They’re for your personal use (and not shared with your library or OverDrive). You can add as many tags to each title as you like.
Tap Tag on a title’s details page and select one from the list. Create your own tags (including emoji tags) by tapping 
.
Find all your tags on the Tags screen of your Shelf. From there, you can tap a tag to view it, rename it, delete it, or untag titles.
Reversible Jackets
Once you borrow or place a hold on a title, it’ll be easy to spot in search results. The cover image will flip to the right side.
Also Available As
If your library has a title as both a book and an audiobook, you’ll find a handy link on its details page that will take you to the other format. This is a great tool for readers who enjoy both eBooks and audiobooks or those who don’t mind which format they use and just want the first available.
Sample any book in the collection in one tap
Perhaps my favorite thing in Libby is the ability to sample any title with just one tap. Simply tap the jacket cover of a book you’re curious about and hit “Read Sample”. This will allow you to read up to 10% of any book in the library collection whether there are available copies or not. This provides a similar experience to browsing the physical library and reading a few pages before deciding to borrow a book or not. You can sample titles even if you don’t have a library card which makes this a perfect marketing tool to show potential new users about your digital library.
Wait List information
Readers can get a full understanding of how long the wait may be for a certain title before and after they place a hold on an unavailable title. By clicking on the small dots on the hold, you can view the approximate wait time, your place in line, how many copies are being used, if any copies have been added and how many people are waiting per copy of the title. This helps you determine whether or not to place something else on hold, or to borrow another title while you wait.
Changing your reading settings
Want to change the size or style of your phone? Prefer reading in night mode or sepia tone? Want to enlarge your font or use our OpenDyslexic font? In the reader, go to 
> Reading Settings and you’ll be able to adjust any and all text options you like.
Sorting and filtering your searches
To set sort and filter preferences for all searches and title lists:
- Tap the plus sign to update preferences like availability, language, and audience. Then, tap Apply Preferences.
To sort and filter a specific search or title list, you can:
- Tap the format and genre links above your results.
- Tap Refine above the first result, then choose Sort by or any of the other refinements.
- Tap the plus sign to search within results.
You can also do an advanced search by tapping the more button at the top of your library page. This will provide search options including series, pre-release titles, date added and even Read-alongs.
Change Libby’s Appearance
You can change Libby’s appearance simply by tapping anywhere her icon shows up. Simply tap and select your preferred appearance!
Interested in learning more tips about Libby? Be to check the Tips & Secrets button in the right navigation menu frequently to see what’s new with Libby.
How can I delay checking out a hold without losing my place in line? This week, six books I’ve had on hold for various lengths of time all showed up. No way can I read them all in the 14 days ahead.
We would like the ability to have “friends” on Libby so that we have the ability to recommend books to our friends. I have several co-workers that also use the app and we often share what we’re reading and listening to. I would be much easier to be able to do this within the Libby app.
I live in Argentina where there are no affiliated libraries to Libby and I would like to set up my school library so that it appears on my students’ Libby list. Is this possible? Ideas? Help!!!
good one keep it up
thanks for the information
How to I use audio sometime and I want to read sometimes.
Is there a way to remove the grouping in my shelf? I just want to see all my loans, in date order so I can see which I need to read first.
Never mind. I worked it out.
In Overdrive I had the pages go full screen – one page on the screen at a time. I can’t seem to find how to do that on Libby–I am seeing two pages now.
Same question here in a sense: can I change to view in portrait one page at a time on an iPad?
Hi, I have just gotten my mom set up on Libby, and I can’t figure out how to extend her audiobook loan time other than each time she borrows a title… With that system she cannot put anything on hold, for when the title becomes available Libby will automatically borrow it for her at the preset 7 day time limit. There’s no way she can finish some of these 30+ hour books in 7 days. When I set my account up (years ago), Overdrive allowed me to set my loan period at 14 days. Please tell me there’s still a way to make longer times the default?
I think you still have to do that through overdrive.
I’m trying to figure out how do do books similar or suggested like in overdrive but Libby doesn’t seem to have that feature…
Is there any way to request for specific titles and authors to be added by our library curators? I am enjoying the Libby app, but often find that the authors I’d like to read are not listed.
Thanks…
Book I’m listening to is about to expire, I want more time. It ask to put it “on hold”!
What does that mean ?
It means someone is waiting for the book and it will be automatically checked out for them at the end of your loan period.
Is there a way to search Audio Titles available, by author?
I haven’t used Libby yet, but the students at my elementary school do. I need to know if someone comments on a book, can anyone who checks out that book see the comments? Or can they only see their own comments on a given book?
Is there a way to let the librarians know a patron is interested in a title that is not in the library yet?
Yes, speak to a librarian and let them know you are interested in a title that’s not yet in the collection.
Is this app capable of rotating while reading? Sometimes I like to place my phone in landscape while reading at lunch and this app doesn’t rotate. Just checking, thanks!
Can we please have the ability to rate tiles like overdrive? That can help with recommendations and remembering past reads.
Thanks!
I would second this option. Although everyone’s personal tastes differ, it is useful for me sometimes to see the rating from other readers, particularly if there is a sufficient number. I think a simple mechanism, similar to that of “Are you finished?” and prompting for early return could include the 5-star rating system that is very easy to select.
Is there a way to filter only for books I have not downloaded already?
This is coming soon. 🙂
How do I know when my hold is ready to be downloaded? Do I get a message?
If you have provided your email address then yes you’ll receive an email notification.
Yesterday I tapped something after checking “chapters” while reading my book. It told me how long I had been reading and how much reading time I had left. I cannot find this information again. How do I access it, please?
While reading a book if you tap the middle of the screen you’ll the chapter your on and next to it a % complete or pages read or pages left in the chapter. if you tap that it will cycle through these options.
Libby has tons of good review online. My friends also suggested it use as it becomes popular in our office. It saves much time through its efficiency. But never got a chance to use it yet. I will do soon. I just need to catch up with more good reviews from this.
I’m an elementary school librarian and I’m trying to get my patrons to use Libby. Our library has a kid-friendly Overdrive page that shows stuff specifically tailored to them. Is there a way to set Libby to show them these things? I know my parents will ask — and I know my personal Libby recommends all kinds of stuff for me, much of which may not be appropriate/interesting for kids.
You can tap the “Explore” button and it’ll have kids and teen buttons right there. Under Preferences you can also tap the audience button and choose just juvenile and it’ll only show them age appropriate content 🙂
Can I see my actual books in my loan section? All I can see now is my audio or ebooks so I still need to keep a library app to see my books?
As libby is a digital library app, yes it will only show you the digital (ebooks/audiobooks) content.
How can I turn on scrolling view? and if I can not, why are you not offering it? I can do this in ibooks and kindle. I will stop using both libby and overdrive if I can not scroll.
Hi Janet- We mentioned this previously but We do not have plans for this feature. We’ve done extensive research that shows that continuous scroll is great for long form articles but it creates a challenging reading experience for books.
Giving people the option lets them determine which form of reading ‘creates a challenging reading experience for books’. We need the option. When you come from paper books to an e-reader, maybe you want that same feeling. When you come from screen reading to an e-reader, scrolling is natural and less disrupting for book reading. People want options. I want options. Not a heavy-handed, paternalistic decision made for me.
We appreciate the feedback. This decision isn’t meant to be heavy-handed. We’ve done a lot of research and work hard to provide what has been shown to be a better digital reading experience where data shows readers spend more time with books that are paginated, finish them more often and are less inclined to abandoned the text.
I know it’s late to the game here, but I just got a library card and libby. Please make scrolling an option. Research be damned, it’s not a hard thing to allow, and I really…really…really, hate swiping to read. This is a phone – not a book.
Reading on a phone/tablet is a much different experience than a book and an ereader. They have very small if any bezels at all and thus are prone to inadvertent taps on the screen which results in inadvertent page turns forward and backward. Providing the option for page scrolling would improve the experience for users who are prone to these accidental page turns.
I’m adding my voice to those calling for a continuous scroll feature. I am new to Libby and page swiping is the most frustrating part of using an otherwise nice app. As an adult, I would like the opportunity to choose for myself the format that works for me, rather than be good what some unknown research says. By the same logic, ebooks shouldn’t be available at all because people are more likely to read and complete paper books. Sounds ridiculous, right?
I hate that my screen goes dark because I didnt touch it in some time and if I touch it the next page shows up. With scrolling this wouldnt be a problem. Please add this feature. I dont want to change my phone options only to be able to use your app.
I agree with the need to have a scrolling option. And your response is tremendously condescending – as though your product managers know what your users want more than they do. However extensive your research, it’s unlikely to be as extensive as Apple’s… and they provide continuous scroll. If you’re not going to offer it, just say you don’t care about providing this feature instead of telling us how we can have a better digital reading experience. Regards
Please please offer scrolling. It’s such a better way to read. Best of people can choose what they prefer
I’ve recorded audiobooks for a living for over a decade and have grown used to scrolling through the entirety of long form books. For me, it makes them easier to read. Especially on my iPad Pro with 12.9” screen: it may not seem like much, but it becomes unnecessarily tiresome to scan up and down that long, huge page. And if I want a smaller page, I have to flip to horizontal, which gives me a 2-up page display, which I also find distracting on a screen, even though it doesn’t bother me on a physical book.
But in any case, I find the physical act of scrolling the book as I read to be comforting and helps me through the process. Somehow it just improves the experience, and it seems I’m not alone.
Not being a software engineer, I guess I don’t know what goes into a feature like this, but it seems like it would be simple. And from a user standpoint, leaving the current functionality as default and allowing people—like all of us who have taken the time to reply to this thread—to ‘opt-in’ to scrolling via a button in the app’s settings seems completely unobtrusive to the users who your research actually applies to.
Please give this further consideration.
I have dyslexia – scrolling is a far better reading experience for me. I like this app but would switch to a different one if it has a scrolling option. Please add this option.
How do you get text to come with the book? I would like my daughter to follow along.
If you do an advance search you’ll find Read Along titles for children as a format option
There doesn’t seem to be a way to filter tags (for available now, or for format), or to add a tag as a filter on a search, which makes it a lot less useful to me for managing books I want to read.
This is coming soon.
How do I jump to another chaper?
Tap the middle of the screen and the horizontal three line icon on the top right. There you’ll find a chapter option.
How do I check out a book from my tags
If you tap on the book in your tag list you’ll see a borrow button.
I am trying to find a setting that will allow me to scroll to read instead of tap to turn the pages. Help?
Hi Elisabeth- We do not offer endless scroll in Libby as a reading option. Cheers.
Do you plan to make continous scroll an option? I came here looking to find the same option.
We do not have plans for a continuous scroll feature at this time.
That is too bad.
When you are lying down on a sofa with your ipad on your chest, it’s much easier on the eyes if the text can be scrolled. Your eyes can then stay at the level they are most comfortable. In fact, that is one of the great features of ebooks vs. regular books. So, it’s kind of silly not to have that option. I’m going back to regular Overdrive.
Cannot agree. I use scrolling because I mostly read during my lunch break, so I’m eating with one hand and reading with the other. If I have to set my phone down to turn the page every time, I read significantly less and also get very annoyed. When you read as fast as I do, scrolling is the way to go. Not sure where your research was done but I completely disagree. And for those of us who want to scroll, having the option would be great. For people who don’t want to scroll, what’s the harm in having the option? You don’t HAVE to use it.
Why are only certain titles available? If I have a card for a larger city library will I have access to more titles? Or is it the same for everyone?
Libraries decide which titles to purchase for their collection. Much like the physical library, each one will have a different collection based on what they purchase.
I would add another tip. When someone wants tighter control over when the content of a checked out title downloads, turn the Download settings to Nothing (and probably also turn on the checkmark on “Download Only On Wi-Fi” just below that.) Then if you have 8 titles checked out, or you have poor wifi at home but better at your local café or library, tap on “online-only” and choose Download for each title as you are ready for it and in an area with wifi.
I currently have a book (Bella Poldark) advising me book is available to go to: loan and overdrive. However I cannot get my book. What should I do?
check your holds. it may be there still if you dont have auto-download set up