Notification Preferences
Control how you receive notifications about loan requests, due dates, and library activity.
Viewing in-app notifications
Section titled “Viewing in-app notifications”Tap the bell in the top bar. Notifications open in a sheet:
- New — items you have not read yet, with Mark all read at the top
- Previous — older items you have already seen
Tap a row to open it. Borrow requests and other time-sensitive items keep their Approve, Decline, and Confirm pickup buttons in the list. The gear at the top of the sheet opens the notification settings below.
Push notifications for a borrow request carry Approve and View buttons. Approve opens the approval screen in the app (it never approves anything on its own), and View opens the request. To decline, open the request and choose Decline there. If the request is for a book the library owns, an admin’s tap opens it on the library’s Lending page instead of the personal Loans page.
Opening Notification Settings
Section titled “Opening Notification Settings”Go to Settings → Notifications, or tap the gear on the notifications sheet.
Reading Tips & Suggestions
Section titled “Reading Tips & Suggestions”Reading tips (onboarding help, book ideas, and gentle nudges) are on by default. To stop them, use the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of any reading-tips email — no sign-in required. Gmail and other providers also support one-click unsubscribe from the message header.
Turning reading tips off does not affect:
- Essential account emails — security, sign-in, and billing messages always send.
- Your weekly library digests — these are treated as operational updates, not marketing. Members get a Monday-morning picks email per library (control it with the Recommendations category toggle below). If you admin a library, you also get a Monday recap email — or a few ideas when the week was quiet — under Library updates → Weekly library digest.
- The notification categories below — loan requests, due dates, and library activity are controlled separately by the per-category toggles. (While reading tips are off, the Recommendations email toggle is paused, since those emails won’t send.)
Turn reading tips back on
Section titled “Turn reading tips back on”If you unsubscribed and want them again:
- Open Settings → Notifications and tap Get reading tips & suggestions, or
- Use the Resubscribe link on the unsubscribe confirmation page (from a recent reading-tips email)
Choosing a Preset
Section titled “Choosing a Preset”At the top of the Notifications screen, pick the preset that matches how you want notifications:
| Preset | What You’ll Get |
|---|---|
| All | Every notification type |
| Important | Loans, due dates, and admin actions (email + push for time-sensitive items) |
| Customize | Fine-tune each category yourself |
A preset saves as soon as you pick it: Saved appears under the choices. If it can’t be saved, you’ll see Couldn’t save and your previous choice comes back, so nothing changes until it goes through.
Customizing by Category
Section titled “Customizing by Category”Choose Customize to open the Customize notifications dialog and toggle each notification type across three channels. Each switch saves as you flip it and says Saved under its row (or Couldn’t save, and the switch flips back); tap Close when you’re done. To open the dialog again later, tap Customize notifications under the Customize option.
| Channel | Best For |
|---|---|
| Detailed messages with action links | |
| Push | Instant alerts on your phone or in your browser |
| SMS | Urgent fallback (requires a verified phone number and SMS consent) |
Notification Categories
Section titled “Notification Categories”The dialog groups settings into six categories. Each category has one or more notification types you can turn on or off per channel.
Book lending — Requests, approvals, pickup reminders, and due-date nudges Library updates — Library admin actions, the weekly admin digest, and content announcements Reading plans — Launches, reminders and wrap-ups for your reading plans Community & social — Reactions and engagement from your reading community Engagement & collections — Helpful nudges and collection update notifications Recommendations — Personalized book picks and reading suggestions
Critical Notifications
Section titled “Critical Notifications”Action required and Admin actions require at least one of email or SMS to stay on—these are critical for your loans and your library. You’ll see a lock icon next to them.
Some types are labeled Push & in-app only (email and SMS toggles are disabled). Those confirmations and social updates never go to email or SMS regardless of your settings. Weekly library digest is labeled Email only — it does not appear in the bell.
Setting Up Push Notifications
Section titled “Setting Up Push Notifications”Push notifications stay off until you enable them on a device. Tapping Maybe later during setup only snoozes the reminder — it does not turn notifications on.
- On the Notifications screen, tap Enable next to “Enable push notifications”
- Accept the permission prompt from your device or browser
- Toggle push on for any notification types you want
If this browser cannot deliver lock-screen notifications (common on iPhone Safari), tap Get the app and enable notifications there instead of a browser prompt that cannot succeed.
If you previously denied permission, you’ll need to enable it in your device or browser settings before push toggles will work. We’ll remind you on Home, Loans, and Settings — and at lending moments — until a device is actually subscribed.
Using more than one device
Section titled “Using more than one device”You can receive push notifications on every device you sign in on—a phone and a tablet, or a laptop and a desktop browser. Turn push on separately on each one; enabling it on a new device no longer turns it off on the others. The notification types you choose for push are shared across all of your devices.
Signing out signs you out everywhere and stops push on all of your devices (the app asks Sign out everywhere? first). Sign back in on a device that already granted permission and push resumes there automatically—you won’t be asked for permission again.
Setting Up SMS
Section titled “Setting Up SMS”SMS requires a verified phone number and one-time consent:
- Go to Settings → Profile and add a phone number if you haven’t already
- Verify it with the code we send you
- Back on the Notifications screen, toggle SMS on for any notification type—you’ll be asked to consent to SMS messages the first time
If a type shows On, texts paused, texts are not going out even though SMS looks enabled. Turn that SMS toggle on again to resume. If you previously texted STOP, text START to the number that sent the last message — Settings cannot reverse that.
Standard message and data rates apply.
Quiet Hours
Section titled “Quiet Hours”Non-urgent notifications are held during quiet hours — 10 PM to 8 AM in your local time — so a late-night update won’t wake you. They’re delivered once quiet hours end. Time-sensitive notifications (like a loan request that needs your response) still come through right away. Quiet hours are automatic and apply to everyone; there’s no separate setting to turn them on or off.
Related Articles
Section titled “Related Articles”Still Need Help?
Section titled “Still Need Help?”If you have questions about notifications, contact support.