You may have noticed a recent change to holds in Libby and I wanted to give you a bit of a run down on these changes. When you place hold for suspension you will no longer select and end date for that suspension – now you just unsuspend the hold when you are ready! Please note that “Deliver Later” is now replaced with “Suspend” so when you want something later you want to suspend it.
If you currently have a hold in Libby and you check on it then you will see a notice letting you know about this change. Don’t be alarmed – all you need to know is that when you are ready you just unsuspend that hold. You don’t need to figure out a date for your hold suspensions (“Deliver Later”) anymore just go and unsuspend when you are ready.
Please be aware suspends for more than a year will lapse (meaning that it if a hold is suspended for 365 days in a row it will be cancelled). Also, if you miss your hold on the first try it will be automatically suspended until you unsuspend it!
The Libby Help page will have videos on suspensions soon but in the meantime should you need a help video for Libby please click here!
Have you noticed that the Libby home screen looks a bit different lately? The middle button, which is usually the colorful Libby icon, has turned a mysterious grey color. It’s the menu option to access Libby’s new AI Reader’s Advisory tool, Inspire Me.
I might be a little skeptical about AI functions being smashed into every app and aspect of our digital lives. However, Inspire Me has rolled out to Libby users worldwide this month, and you might get some questions about it. It isn’t completely awful, I promise!
Below, you can see that the Home button has been replaced by that grey-ed out Libby icon. Tapping it takes users to the Inspire Me screen.
Users are first presented with simple options: fiction, nonfiction, and tags. The tags option lets users select from their own self-created tags, which I think is pretty cool.
Note that on this screen, users can scroll past the Inspire Me section to access the usual home menu. I’ve already heard some outcry over the “loss” of the settings and support tools, so it’s good to know the menu is still there. There’s no way to turn off or opt out of Inspire Me mode, but users can scroll past it to get to the regular Manage Cards, Settings, Information, and Help sections.
After the basics, patrons are presented with more granular subjects as well as age groups (kids, teens, and adults). Only one subject can be selected at a time. In this example, users wouldn’t be able to select “aquatic” and “celestial” (though if you have a recommendation, let me know!). I chose “adventurous.”
Behold! Libby presents the AI generated “inspirations,” which are short summaries pulled from Libby’s metadata and passed through an LLM. “Arctic expeditions ending in disaster and loss” (Shackleton/Endurance edit added for dramatic effect)? My favorite!
Once users have picked an inspiration, they can swipe through to choose from five recommended titles. Libby prioritizes titles that are currently available for check out in the catalog.
As we all know, AI and large language models are imperfect and can make mistakes. If the Inspire Me recommendations seem off in any way, users can flag it as inappropriate and explain why. “Inappropriate” here means the suggestion does not match the prompts, e.g. if I got title recommendations about meatball recipes or outer space.
A chart pops up where users can select which suggestion was inappropriate. Submissions are anonymous, so users won’t receive a response from OverDrive, but it helps train hallucinations out of the AI tool.
Personally, I wish there were improvements in their basic search function (can we get an “OR” operator please!) before they jumped on the AI bandwagon, but here we are. Have you used this new function yet? How inspired are you? Have you heard anything from your patrons about it?
The next major release of Libby will introduce a new feature called Content Controls. Content Controls allow users to configure what library content appears in Libby, for themselves or for their family, based on the intended audience for each book, audiobook, and magazine in the library collection.
🦸 Libby for Everyone works just like Libby does today, with no restrictions by audience except those users manually choose to apply. 🧒 Libby for Kids shows only titles for “juvenile” and “young adult” audiences when searching and browsing in Libby. Users can apply deep-search, sample, and circulation restrictions to young adult titles if they wish. 🧟 Libby for Grown-ups is for people who borrow “general content” and “mature content” titles only. It prevents kids’ titles from appearing at their libraries in Libby. Users who enjoy young adult titles can re-enable that content using a toggle within the preset.
Users can also choose to lock Content Controls with a passkey. To access these options, visit Content Controls in the Settings section of the Menu. The update with these new features is expected the week of June 23!
– Heather Auman, Western Allegheny Community Library
Let’s say you want to learn some Greek, so you head over to Pimsleur, a trusted name in quick and impactful language instruction for over 60 years. The Greek program alone is $19.95 a month! The Pimsleur method is effective, of course, but you’re going to be spending more than $20 getting the hang of the language.
If you are set on Pimsleur, you can head over to Hoopla, where “each lesson provides 30 minutes of spoken language practice, with an introductory conversation, and new vocabulary and structures.”
In fact, Hoopla has a fantastic array of Pimsleur options, including English instruction for native speakers of a variety of other languages (English for Arabic speakers, English for Norwegian speakers, etc).
You don’t have to limit yourself to Mr. Pimsleur, either! Hoopla has lots of options for audiobook language learning.
And it’s not just Hoopla. And it’s not just Greek! You can find similar content in our Libby collection.
You can also head over to Udemy for language instruction!
Whether you want to brush up on a new language in time for an upcoming vacation, or you have new neighbors who speak a language new to you, there are so many ways our eResources can support your language learning goals.
