Can’t sleep? Want to borrow a book in the middle of the night? Download Libby, attach your public library card number, and you have access to all the reading material your library has on offer. Of course it’s also perfect for downloading items during daylight. Libby is easy to navigate, and comes with simple tutorials if something isn’t clear, but really it’s quite straightforward. Browse or search for a title, and click on download. There are several ways to search, plenty of inspiration, and you can place a hold on an item if it’s not currently available and it will be immediately downloaded for you when it becomes so. Return your item with a single click and repeat the process as often as you like. The reading experience is excellent, with a choice of font styles and sizes and background colours to optimise your reading comfort. You can easily see how far you are along in a chapter, with estimated reading times. Highlight passages, keep notes, lookup word definitions on the fly. Audiobook speed can be adjusted up to 2x normal speed should you prefer chipmunk to human voice. Can’t recommend public libraries and this app enough. Also check out Kanopy for movies, and Press Reader for magazines and periodicals, which can also be accessed from your library card.

Libby is fairly user friendly for readers who have a high turnover of books but find it difficult to get to a physical library in their limited opening hours. A lockdown friend! Positive aspects are that it contains a good range of books and you can adjust the length of your loan. If you are not ready to borrow a book you have on hold, you can postpone borrowing it until you are ready but still somehow stay at the front of the queue. I like that I can tag books that I don’t have time to read now but I want to remember when I’m looking for something later. I have an ongoing list I can refer to when choosing a new read.Negative aspects is that they have some glaring holes in the collection (no Robert Galbraith? What is that about?). If you want to make changes to Libby's settings, it isn’t intuitive, you have to be very motivated to keep looking. Biggest negative: Libby is not available on kindle in Australia. Inside the app, it says it is but when you dig deeper, it turns out that is only in America.I will keep using Libby as it seems the best available option but it can still do with some work.

With the world becoming more mindful in how we treat our planet, saving paper is harder than it seems; books, notepads, post it notes, tissues, calendars, and many others. Having a free online resource that has thousands of books is an easy step to a better environment where we don’t have to waste paper for something we might only read once. The app design is intuitive and as simple for those who aren’t great with technology, as it is for those who spend 24/7 staring at their screens. This app has many functions and has magazines, books, audiobooks, and perhaps more. It is easy to borrow a book and it returns itself on its due date relieving you from the stress of overdue fees. The idea of connecting the books with real libraries is also great as it helps the books be more accessible to everyone, especially now during lockdown. I could not ask for a better app and am grateful for the concept, the creators, and everyone behind this brilliant app! :)