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Three Libby tips and tricks you may not know

By Marissa Gillett | Jun 19, 2020

Three Libby tips and tricks you may not know

Libby is pretty intuitive, making it easy to borrow a title and begin reading within just a few minutes, but I wanted to highlight some of Libby’s lesser-known features that you can utilize while reading from home. Especially now that we have welcomed so many new users to Libby since sheltering in place. Here are three things I think every Libby user should know:

You can use the definition feature to discover far more than what a word means

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Defining words directly in the text has always been one of my favorite things about Libby, as I love non-fiction and often read books on topics that I don’t know much about, but you should know that you aren’t limited to defining single words found in the dictionary. Have you ever come across a character talking about an obscure TV show that was before your time? Maybe you like to read about adventures in foreign lands and get lost when they reference a landmark you have never heard of. If you are anything like me, you can not continue reading until you know exactly what they are referring to.

You no longer have to set your book aside to look up anything in Google! You can “define” anything from famous paintings to the names of generals in niche battles in WWII. If there is a Wikipedia page on it out there, Libby will likely give you a little blurb to give you the 411.

To define a word or words in an ebook:

  1. Tap and hold the word.
  2. Tap Define.

Notes and highlights can be accessed even after a title is returned

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Libby has always given access to your annotations while the book is in your possession via the reading menu. In fact, if you returned a title and then borrowed it again later down the road, those notes and highlights would magically reappear along with it. However, if you didn’t have the title currently borrowed, you couldn’t look at the notes that you had taken during your loan period. For any book club enthusiasts out there, you will be happy to hear that you can now access your annotations in a title’s Reading Journey, even after it has been returned.

To see your Reading Journey for a title:

  1. Go to the title’s details screen in your library’s catalog.
  2. Tap Reading Journey.
  3. Tap a highlight or bookmark to view it. If you added a note, you’ll see it under the highlight.

Be in the know with notifications

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Have you been driving yourself crazy by repetitively checking your place in line for a highly anticipated title? Stop stressing yourself out and set up notifications! Libby will alert you when a hold becomes available!

Libby can alert you about a hold in a few different ways. iOS and Android users can choose between a menu badge (a colored circle on the menu icon in the app) or push notifications (a banner that will appear either on the lock screen or in the notification center, depending on your device settings). If you are using Libby on a computer or Surface tablet, you will get in-app notifications, which will appear in the menu.

Once you receive a notification that your hold is available, you have three days to act on it. If you aren’t ready you can have it delivered later which keeps you at the front of the waitlist, but passes the current copy to the next person in line. If you forget to act on a hold during the three day window, Libby will reschedule it for later delivery automatically (once per hold).

To manage which push notifications you get:

  1. Tap the Libby icon in the upper right corner
  2. Tap Manage Notifications at the top of the menu. Note: If you have existing in-app notifications at the top of the menu, swipe left to dismiss each one first.
  3. If prompted, allow Libby to send push notifications.
  4. Choose how to be notified: Ignore (no notification), Menu badge (in-app menu notification), or Notification (push notification).

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