How Lending Works

Agathos Books makes it easy to share physical books with your community. Here’s how the lending process works from start to finish.

The Lending Flow

Every loan walks through the same five steps:

1. Request — You find a book and ask to borrow it
2. Approval — The library or the book’s owner approves the request
3. Transfer — The book gets to you, either via a pickup spot or a direct handoff
4. Loan — You have the book for the loan period
5. Return — You return it when you’re done

Two Kinds of Books

Libraries hold two kinds of books, and they’re approved in slightly different ways:

Library-owned

Books that belong to the library itself, like a traditional library’s collection.

• Approval — depending on the library’s settings, requests are either approved automatically or reviewed by a librarian
• No personal owner — the library manages the copy

Member-owned

Personal books that a member has chosen to share with the library.

• Owner approval required — the member who owns the copy decides whether to lend it
• Personal property — the member keeps ownership; the book just travels for a while
• Fallback — if the owner doesn’t respond, the request can fan out to other members who also own the book

Requesting a Book

1. Open the book’s page
2. Tap Request to Borrow
3. If the book is at more than one of your libraries, pick which one
4. Confirm

The confirmation dialog tells you exactly how the request will be handled — auto-approved, sent to a librarian, or sent to a member who owns the copy. Member-owners see your name and reliability score when they decide.

If no copies are available, the same button reads Join Waitlist. See Joining a waitlist.

Getting the Book

When the lender approves the request, they also choose how the handoff will happen.

Pickup spot

The default for most community libraries:

1. The lender drops the book off at the library’s pickup spot
2. You get a notification when it’s ready
3. Pick the book up within 7 days (after that the loan is cancelled and the book goes to the next person in line)
4. Tap Confirm Pickup in the app when you take possession to start the loan

Direct handoff

For loans where you and the lender meet in person:

1. The lender selects In person when approving the request
2. You arrange a time to meet (coordinate however you usually do — the app doesn’t share contact details)
3. After the handoff, both parties confirm in the app — the lender taps the handoff button, and you tap the button to acknowledge it as received

Direct handoffs skip the pickup-spot step entirely. The loan becomes active once both confirmations are in.

Loan Period

• Length — typically 21 days. Each library sets its own (7–90 days).
• Reminders — 3 days before the due date, on the due date, and once the loan is overdue
• Extensions — starting 7 days before the due date, you can request a renewal of up to 14 days (each library configures the per-renewal cap). When no one is on the waitlist, renewals auto-approve and you can renew as many times as you need. When a waitlist exists, the lender decides and you’re limited to one renewal. Lenders can also push your due date out without you asking — handy when they know they don’t need the book back soon.

Returning a Book

1. Go to Loans, find the book, and tap Return Book
2. Pick a return method:
   • Return to Pickup Spot — drop it back at the library
   • Return to Owner — hand it directly to the owner (member-owned books only)
3. Confirm in the app

If someone is on the waitlist, they’re notified when the book is back. Full details in Returning books.

Talking to the Other Person

Every loan has its own private chat — coordinate the handoff, ask about the book, or sort out a misunderstanding. For member-owned books the chat is between you and the lender; library admins never see it. For library-owned books the chat is with the library admin team. If chat isn’t enough, you can pull a library admin in by tapping Get help at the top of the Messages tab. See Messaging on a loan for the details.

Reliability Scores

Your reliability score reflects your lending history. Owners can see it when you request their books, and a good score makes approval more likely.

• Improves it — responding to requests promptly, picking up on time, returning on or before the due date
• Lowers it — missing the pickup window, returning late, no-shows

See Understanding your reliability score for the full picture.

Tips

• Keep notifications on — pickup windows, extension responses, and recalls are all time-sensitive
• Pause lending if you need to — going on vacation or just need a break? You can pause all incoming requests from your reliability page without affecting your score

Related Articles

• Borrowing a book
• Returning books

Still Need Help?

If you have questions about lending, contact support.