Libby is an app that for many Kansans brings their public libraries’ books and audiobooks to their phones. Since September when I installed Libby on my phone, I have blazed through audiobooks at a pace that would have cost me a small fortune if I purchased each title.
All that was required? My public library card.
Using Libby, my Johnson County Library card allows me to access 53,000 books and 32,000 audiobooks. (Editor’s note: Libby works with the Wichita Public Library as well). While some popular titles might be checked out, most of those are listed as being available now. The app pairs with my Kindle reader, or I can read directly through my iPhone.
In addition to the virtue of being free, Libby has a smart interface. After logging in, you can filter for books that are “currently available” as you search. You can also tag books however you like, so that you can return to a promising title later and create customized lists.
For audiobooks in particular, anywhere you play music — in your car, in your earbuds, through your laptop — you can listen to audiobooks easily with Libby. That simplicity has pushed me to finish at least 12 audiobooks during the past six months on the platform.
The most surprising thing about my reading list since using Libby is how much more diverse it is than my previous listening. My family has groaned about my recent obsession with shipwreck books. From our landlocked state, I have bored them with antiquated tales of scurvy, icebergs and mutinies on the high seas. Over and over, my listening (and dinner table chatter) was shipwrecks and sea voyages.
Sorry, kids.
With Libby, I have tackled longer titles, returned to long-lost favorite authors and … well, yes, there was one shipwreck book.
My ears are hungry, and this is the best meal they’ve ever had.
Eric Thomas teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
