Libby App - A Tutorial (Part 2 - with Updated Interface)

Hi, everyone!  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel.  Today is the second in a two part series about the app that my public library uses to access digital books and audiobooks -- the Libby App.  This video is an update to the one that I did in 2019, which featured the old interface.

In my first video, I talked about the pros and cons of using the Libby app to check out digital and audiobooks from the library.  For me the positives obviously far outweigh the negatives, since I use this app all of the time.  So, now let me show you around.

My public library has a partnership with Overdrive, which is a distributor for digital resources like eBooks and audiobooks.  Their Libby app allows library patrons to check out these resources using their library credentials.  I'm going to show you the iPad version of Libby since it is easier for you to see on YouTube, but they also make versions for Android and the iPhone.  

Once you download Libby, you'll need to sign in using your library card.  It will take you through a series of intro screens to link your account using your library card.  You can copy your information from another device, search for your library, or have Libby guess your library based on your location.  Once you have your library account linked, it'll take you to your library's home page -- in my case, Fairfax County Library.  There are 5 different areas of the Libby app, the:

• Search section - represented by this magnifying glass, which allows you to search for items by title, keyword, and author.  Your
• Library section (which is represented by this library building) is whatever your library system decides to display -- in my case, books grouped by categories and other popular searches.  This little
• Libby icon - in the center, which takes you to the menu.  Your
• Bookshelf - which takes you to your holds and checked out items, and your
• Timeline, represented by this clock, which shows you what things have happened in your account
• In addition, if you are currently reading or listening to a book in the app, it shows up over in the right side here.  So, let's start with the 

Search

which is fairly straightforward.  You can search by keyword, author, title.  Up here you can enter the preferences to use for searching.  You can specify format (books, audiobooks, magazines), language, audience, format (I prefer Kindle, but tend to leave this filter to give me everything), and availability (meaning you can limit your search to only books that are available to be checked out now).  Next, let’s go to the

Library

Page.  So, I’m guessing this section varies depending on which library system you belong to.  There are two ways to find books to check out -- we already talked about search, but this page allows you to browse your library’s offerings.  My library presents me with some options and also gives me some links to new, popular or available books, or it lets you browse by subject.  In addition, they have some filtered lists set up like "All magazines" or "All young adult books" and also some lists that are librarian curate`d.  Let me show you how this works.  If I go into Subjects and look for books under the Mystery category, I can see by this icon that most of these books are not available to be checked out today.  The card with the plus means it is available today, if it has a clock, I would need to put a hold on it.  To do this, choose “Place Hold” and then "Place Hold" again.  It tells me down here approximately how long I will have to wait.   Okay -- now let's go to your

Settings Menu

This gives you access to your messages from Libby and some Libby tips, your library cards and account, and a help and support area.  This area also gives you the ability to change what kind of books you download automatically under Read Books With.  Now let’s go to your

Shelf

This area shows your loans, your holds, and your tags.  Loans are the books you currently have checked out.  It allows you to choose how you want to read the book (Libby app or Kindle), allows you to manage your loan, which really just means enabling you to return the book early or place another hold on it.  And it tells you how much time you have until the book is due and how many people are waiting for it.  Up here, you can see all of the books you have on hold.  It gives you an approximate amount of time that you still need to wait, allows you to read a sample, and gives you a way to manage your hold.  On this screen you can see how long you still have to wait and can cancel or suspend the hold.  And finally, your Tags show you any books that you've applied a tag to, which is a nice way to organize your books to read or rate the ones you've already read.  To do this, find a book that you eventually want to read through the search or library screen.  Now hit Tag and you can pick one of Libby’s default tags, which look like book list, thumbs up and thumbs down, or you can make your own tag using text or emojis.  The final screen is your

Timeline

Which shows what has been happening in your account.  What you have put on hold, which have been checked out, and which have been returned.  If you are reading a book through the Libby app, that shows up over here on the right. 

Digital Book - As I said, you can choose whether to read your books within the Libby app or on a Kindle by hitting the Read with link.  The book you are currently reading will appear to the right on the iPad app and just above these icons on an iPhone.  Hit this to go back to reading.  If you want to switch to read your book on a Kindle, hit Manage Loan, then Read With . . ., choose Kindle instead, which will take you to your Amazon Amazon page to claim your library book and send it to your Kindle.  It will appear automatically in your Kindle's cloud.

Audiobook - With audiobooks, you don't have a choice about where to listen to it -- you have to listen to it from within your Libby app.  You can open the audiobook and it'll replace the current book down here.  You can choose to download the audio files by hitting this cloud icon here.  While listening, you can change the speaking speed, set a sleep timer if you want to pause for 30 minutes, apply a bookmark, and navigate either by chapter or by sliding this bar.  Also these buttons give you 15 second rewind and forward capabilities.  Plus you can swipe to quickly rewind and quickly fast forward. 

And that is it!  I use this app all. the. time to check out digital books, put books on hold, and listen to audiobooks.  Let me know what you think!  Comments are always appreciated and thanks for watching!