How to Delay Libby’s Book Before It’s Released

There’s nothing worse than a new book being published by an author you love and on the day it’s released you open the Libby app to request it and check it out. . . the holding line had already reached 100 people!

Luckily you can snooze Libby’s book before it’s even released!

Even better? This is a very easy process.

Here’s how to hold Libby’s book before it’s released:

The first thing to know is that the library decides what new releases will be available so you can’t expect every new release to be picked up. However, there is a way to ask libraries to purchase books for their Libby collections. I’ll show you how to do it second.

If you don’t have anything specific in mind, but want to see what upcoming releases your library is getting, click the three little lines under Catalog Filters.

You will then see a large number of options. Select “Coming Soon.”

In the top right you’ll see a bluish-green rounded rectangle that shows how many upcoming titles you can retain. Mine specifically has 53. Press that and voila!

Now you can scroll down and browse all the titles. I like this option because it not only features adult books, but also children’s books. Plus, I don’t really keep tabs on every author, so it’s really exciting when a book comes along by an author I’ve read or that my kids have read and loved.

Next I’ll show you how to request a certain books You know it will be released in the near future. This is the same process for having your library purchase a Libby book that has been released. And don’t be intimidated – it’s really easy.

Start by clicking the magnifying glass/search. Type in the Libby book you’re looking for and press search.

Sometimes the book you want will appear right away and other times it won’t. If you DO see it, click “Tell Me.”

This places the Smart Tag on the book. What this means is that the library is not guaranteed to get the book, but Libby shares your interests (anonymously) with your library and increases the chances of your library purchasing Libby’s book.

If you DON’T see the book you are looking for, click “deep search”. Deep search is a feature that expands your search results beyond what your library currently offers and allows you to request Libby books. The book I was looking for didn’t show up until I clicked on “deep search” and it immediately popped up. I can then place the Smart Tag on the book!

Once you place a Smart Tag on a book, Libby will automatically notify you if your library has added a Libby book to its collection. So you can sit back and wait and once that notification comes in, you can snooze!

Do you have any other questions about how to get Libby’s books?

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