If you use OverDrive‘s Libby app tips and tricks are well worth knowing, because the platform does considerably more than it lets on at first glance. From juggling multiple library cards to wrangling your holds queue, here’s what’s actually available once you dig into the settings.
Libby App Tips and Tricks for Borrowing Smarter
The first thing most people don’t realise: you’re not limited to one library system. Libby lets you connect multiple libraries to a single account, so you can browse larger catalogues and take advantage of shorter wait times elsewhere. You still need to be eligible for a card at each library you add, but that could mean stacking your city library, county library, and a school library all in one place. Go to Menu > Add Library and search by name, city, or postcode to get started.
Once you’re in, use the pin filter trick to cut through the noise. In Search, tap the three horizontal lines to open the filter list, select ‘available now’, then press and hold the filter and tap Pin Filter. Every subsequent search will show you only titles ready to borrow immediately. Subject filters can’t be pinned, but format filters (books, audiobooks) can.
For popular titles with long hold queues, some library systems designate specific copies as ‘skip the line’, marked with a shamrock icon. These can’t be reserved or renewed, they go to whoever claims them first once the previous borrower returns them. Find them via Search > Catalog Filters > skip the line, if your library offers them.
The Suspend feature is also worth knowing about. If several holds land at once and you’re not ready to read them all, go to Shelf > Holds > Manage Hold > Suspend Hold. Your place in the queue is preserved; the title simply won’t come to you until you lift the suspension.
Managing Downloads, Storage and Notifications
Audiobooks eat storage fast, and if you’re juggling more than one title, it adds up. By default in the mobile app, loans are automatically downloaded for offline use when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, according to Libby Help. You can customise this via Menu > Settings > Download Rules, where you can set the app to download everything, nothing, or only files under 20 MB, and restrict downloads to Wi-Fi to avoid burning through mobile data.
The ‘Notify Me’ smart tag handles new releases. When a title your library doesn’t yet carry turns up in search, you’ll be prompted to create one. You can also create it manually via the custom tag process, selecting ‘Notify Me’ to convert it into a smart tag. It works for new magazine issues and new content from specific authors or series too. Make sure push notifications are enabled in Libby, otherwise the alert won’t reach you.
One thing to be aware of on the device side: Cumberland County Libraries notes that from 15 April 2024, Android 7.1.1 became the earliest supported Android operating system for all OverDrive apps and websites, including Libby. If you or someone you know is still running an older version of Android, the app may no longer function properly.
Keeping Track: Exports, Tags and Reading History
Libby’s tag system is genuinely useful for organising your reading lists. Go to Tags > Actions > New Tag, add a name and description, and tap ‘Create’. After that, hit ‘Save’ on any title’s page to attach relevant tags. You can sort and filter your tagged titles from the bottom navigation bar.
You can also export your reading history. Go to Shelf > Timeline > Actions > Export Timeline and choose a format: ‘Table’ creates a shareable HTML page, ‘Spreadsheet’ downloads an editable file, and JSON is available too. Exports include the title, author, borrow date, publisher, and ISBN. If you want to sync to Goodreads, choose Spreadsheet and follow Goodreads’ own import instructions.
Highlights and notes don’t disappear when you return a book, either. In the app, find the title, tap the cover image, then tap ‘Reading Journey’. You can also export annotations via Actions > Export Reading Data. For anything read on a Kindle, notes and highlights are saved to Amazon and visible on Goodreads.
The Kindle airplane mode workaround, which involved putting the device offline to freeze an expiring loan, is worth mentioning with a caveat: reports suggest it may no longer work on newer Kindle devices running the latest software. Reddit users have proposed changing the device date to before the return deadline, or keeping the expired book open, as possible alternatives, though neither is guaranteed.
