Borrow Free Ebooks and Audiobooks with Libby

Updated on October 21st, 2024

I have been listening to more audiobooks lately, but most apps require you to pay a monthly subscription fee, or you have to buy the books before you can listen to or read them. However, I discovered the app Libby by Overdrive, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Introduction to Libby

I used to have a free trial with Mofibo, which is a Danish ebook and audiobook app. After the trial period, the app is 129 kr / $18 a month. The price is too expensive for me since some months I may not have much time to listen to books. However, I did a Google search for alternative audiobook apps and discovered Libby. To sign up for Libby, all you need is your library card. From there, you will have access to thousands of ebooks and audiobooks for free. I have listened to numerous audiobooks by Fredrik Backman, Emily Henry, Lucy Foley, Ransom Riggs, Jenny Han, and more, and I honestly prefer Libby over Mofibo.

Loans and Holds

Like with regular library books, you can only loan an ebook or audiobook for 21 days. You can extend your loan if no one else reserved the book after you. You are limited to how many books you can loan out at a time (my library set it to 2 books). Also, like regular library books, there are a limited number of copies of ebooks and audiobooks. The number of copies can range from 1 copy to 20+ copies.

The more popular books can have a waiting period of months even with numerous copies available. Luckily, you can reserve books and put them on hold. Libby gives you an estimate of how long the wait time is, and you can decide if you want to wait that long. On your shelf, you can easily track how long you have until you need to return the books. You can also track your holds and see if you moved up on the waitlist.

Available Now and Other Useful Sections

Also, if you do not want to reserve a book and wait weeks or months, Libby has an “available now” section with ebooks and audiobooks with no waiting time. Also, some of the “newest” books may have no waiting time, especially if they were just added to the app. However, if you browse the “popular” section, there will most likely be a wait time. You can also search directly for the book or author and see if Libby has the book available and the potential waiting time.

Listening to Audiobooks

As far as listening to a book, the app shows you the exact chapter you are on, the time left, and the percentage you have listened to. You can also easily change the playback speed from 0.60x to 3.00x. Furthermore, you can rewind (as well as fast forward) the book with a swipe of your finger or click one of the buttons.

Reading Ebooks

While reading ebooks, you swipe or tap the edge of the screen to go to the next page. When you tap the middle of the page, it shows you the page and chapter you are on, and you can change the text size and lighting from here too. The text size is on a slider, and you can make the text smaller or bigger. There is an option for accessibility sizes as well. For the lighting, there is the regular lighting of your screen and 3 options for bright, sepia, or dark to ensure that reading the ebook is a comfortable experience. Lastly, there is a search option. You can search for a word or phrase, and you will be shown every instance that occurs in the book.

Tags

Another convenient function in Libby is that you can tag books. I made a TBR (to be read) tag, and I added the tag to audiobooks and ebooks I want to read, but I already maxed out the loans and holds. When I have a free spot, I can go to my TBR tag and loan one of those books or put it on hold.

Overall, the Libby app is a great and free alternative to listening to audiobooks and reading ebooks. However, like at regular libraries, you are limited on how many books you can loan and hold and how long you can borrow them.

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Have you used Libby? How do you prefer to read/listen to books?