Searching for Books
Search works in several places, and each one searches a different set of books. Use the screen that matches what you’re looking for.
Searching to add a new book
Section titled “Searching to add a new book”The Add Books page is where you find books to add to your collection — including ones the app doesn’t know about yet.
- Open Add Books from the + icon at the top of the app or the side menu
- Type a title, author, or ISBN into the search field at the top (placeholder: “Search by title, author, or ISBN…”)
- Tap Add on the result to add it, or tap the card to preview it first
Results appear as you type. A valid 10- or 13-digit ISBN is treated like a scan and added straight to Recently Added without showing a results grid. For the full walkthrough, see Adding books to your collection.
Searching your collection
Section titled “Searching your collection”To find a book you’ve already added:
- Tap My Books in the bottom nav
- Type into the search field at the top of My Books (placeholder: “Search…”) — results filter as you type
- Tap Filters to narrow further by reading status, ownership, category, recommended, notes, or your own tags
- Use the sort menu beside Filters to change the order (Recently Active, Title (A–Z), Author (A–Z), or Date Added)
My Books search matches title and author only — it doesn’t accept ISBNs.
Searching across all your libraries
Section titled “Searching across all your libraries”The Browse page searches every library you belong to in one place — useful when you want to know if any of your libraries has the book.
- Tap Browse in the bottom nav
- Type a title, author, or ISBN into the search field
- Tap Filters to narrow by category, library collections, or your own tags
If you belong to more than one library, an All Libraries selector at the top of the page lets you narrow results to a single library, or keep it on All Libraries to search everything.
Looking to join more libraries? See Joining a library.
Searching inside one library
Section titled “Searching inside one library”To explore the catalog of a specific library:
- Open the library
- Type a title or author into the search field at the top (placeholder: “Search by title, author, or ISBN…”)
- Or tap Filters to narrow by category, the library’s collections, or your own tags — without typing
As soon as you search or apply a filter, the library’s rails are replaced by a list of matching books. Tap a result to open its book detail page and see who has a copy and whether it’s available to borrow. Clear the search and remove any active filters (tap the ✕ on a filter chip, or Clear all) to return to browsing.
When nothing is searched or filtered, the library shows its Collections strip and category rails — a good way to browse without a search term in mind.
- ISBN works on Add Books, Browse, library search, and the scanner — but not in My Books search, which matches title and author only.
- Use the scanner for books in front of you — barcode scanning is faster than typing an ISBN.
- Try just the author’s last name — “Lewis” is usually enough to find C.S. Lewis books.
Related Articles
Section titled “Related Articles”Still Need Help?
Section titled “Still Need Help?”If you can’t find a book you’re looking for, contact support.