Our community loves to read digitally. In 2025, Multnomah County Library patrons checked out items more than 7 million times on Libby — a record! More people than ever are consuming books and other library media online.
So how can you make the most of your experience on Libby and other platforms? What can you do to optimize your TBR, or to-be-read, list? We’ve got tips to help you out.
Use tags to cultivate your TBR
Tags are a fantastic tool in Libby. Create as many as you want and use them to craft TBR lists completely customized to you and your preferences. Use tags to highlight:
- Books to explore next.
- Audiobooks for your next road trip.
- Magazines to subscribe to.
- Reads to share with a loved one.
- And whatever else you can imagine!
Libby also offers deep search, which lets you find titles not currently in our library collection. Instead of a button reading Borrow or Place Hold, these have a button reading Notify Me. If you click it, your Libby account will set up a tag to alert you if we purchase the item. Then you can borrow or place a hold on it!
“I review titles with the most Notify Me tags each week,” says Electronic Content Librarian Kady Ferris. “This is the best way to let the library know you want us to add something to the [digital] collection!”
To note, if a title doesn’t appear in deep search, it may not be available for libraries to buy. Plus, the Notify Me button doesn’t guarantee a title will be added to the collection.
Skip the line with Lucky Day
Want to read something with no wait? Look for Lucky Day books in Libby, marked with a green clover. These items can be borrowed with no holds and no wait! They’re perfect for when you want a quick read or listen. Plus, keep an eye on your holds list — you never know when something you previously put a hold on might become a Lucky Day item!
You can find these books in Libby if you click Search, then click the button reading “skip the line” with a clover.
Hold suspending made simple
Libby recently changed how hold suspensions work. The Deliver Later feature is now called Suspend. These suspended holds can last for up to a year, and a hold can be suspended before or after it’s ready for you to borrow. You’ll keep moving up the wait list when your hold is suspended. When you’re ready, you manually unsuspend the hold and you’ll get your item delivered when you reach the top of the wait list and it’s available. For example, if you were first on a book’s wait list when you suspended your hold, you’ll get the next available copy after you unsuspend the hold!
Plus, good news: if you’re actively reading a book at the time it expires, you can now request an extra hour of reading time to finish it up.
Link your library world
Libby now lets you link library cards and borrow from multiple libraries without switching accounts! If you have an account at nearby library systems, this can help you access more choices and potentially get digital books faster.
Don’t forget other digital wonders
It doesn’t stop at books! Libby also gives you free access to digital magazines like The New Yorker, Vogue, and Rolling Stone — all with no holds and no wait. If you’re more in the mood for newspapers, you can explore PressReader. Talk about a great pick while you wait for your next book!
Find films, TV shows, comics and more on other digital platforms like Hoopla and Kanopy. They have some incredible selections, like lists of past Oscar-nominated films. Even better, the selections vary between Hoopla and Kanopy, so you can plan the perfect movie night.
With flexible tags, Lucky Day loans, and new features to enjoy, there’s so many ways to keep your digital TBR list fresh. It’s no wonder so many of our patrons love reading online!
Curious what your community is reading? Check out the most popular books from last year.