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End of year wrap-up: Our favorite Libby features and updates

By Marissa Gillett | Dec 18, 2020

End of year wrap-up: Our favorite Libby features and updates

What a year it has been for our little librarian. In addition to a whole new look, the Libby app has had a year full of fun and useful updates. The Libby team is always hard at work improving Libby’s accessibility, fulfilling user requests, and coming up with new ways to delight readers. Here are some of our favorite Libby updates that happened this year:

Users can export their notes, highlights, and bookmarks for a title

That’s right, bookworms! Book clubs just got a whole lot easier! This feature was one of the most common requests that we received when we were out on the road talking to library patrons about Libby. We are super excited that the next time we are visiting a library, we can give those users good news! To export notes, highlights, and bookmarks:

  1. Go to the title’s details screen in your library’s catalog.
  2. Tap Reading Journey.
  3. Tap Actions > Export Reading Data.
  4. Choose an export format for your notes, highlights, and bookmarks:
    • To export them to a web page, select Table. From there, you can bookmark the page for future use or share it with others.
      Note: The exported page also includes your circulation activity for the title.

To save them to your device, select Spreadsheet, then Bookmarks or Highlights. Exporting your highlights includes any notes.

Libby is now available in 10 languages

When traveling with the Digital Bookmobile, we meet so many people that speak a wide variety of languages, so we are thrilled that the Libby team added support for 9 additional languages. In addition to English, Libby is now available in Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French (Canada), German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish (Latin America), and Swedish.

Libby automatically uses the language your device or web browser is set to, as long as the language is supported in the app.
If you’d like to use Libby in a different language than your device:

  1. Go to (libby icon is acting up in quip).
  2. Tap Get Some Help.
  3. Choose your language (under “Common Solutions”).
Keyboard shortcuts make navigating ebooks and audiobooks easier

Speaking of accessibility, Libby’s reader and audiobook player are now completely navigable with a keyboard. Find out more about keyboard shortcuts with our help article here: Keyboard shortcuts for the ebook reader and audiobook player.

Libby is now compatible with Sonos

With other smart home systems (Google and Alexa), Libby can play audiobooks via Bluetooth, but this year we announced our newest smart home integration with Sonos. Households with Sonos wireless home sound systems can enjoy audiobooks from their Sonos speakers without the need to connect via Bluetooth. To connect Libby with a Sonos speaker:

  1. Add the Libby service in your Sonos Controller app.
  2. Sign into the Libby service:
    1. When prompted, enter your setup code from the Libby app.
    2. To get a setup code: Open Libby, then tap and hold (libby icon is acting up in quip) until a setup code appears.
  3. Once signed in, go back to the Sonos Conroller app and enter a name for your account.
  4. Tap on an audiobook on your shelf to start listening.
Users can now share their Libby tags and activity on Goodreads

Few communities are as passionate about cataloging as the book community, so Christmas came early with our September update. With the ability to export tags and activity, users can import these lists into their Goodread’s account, making it easier than ever to catalog both physical and digital reading materials. To import tags or activity into Goodreads:

  1. Export a tag or your activity as a Spreadsheet from Libby.
  2. Send or transfer the spreadsheet to a computer.
  3. On your computer, follow Goodreads’s steps to import books into your account.

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