Returning Books

When you’re done with a book, return it promptly so the next person can read it.

How to Return a Book

Tap Loans in the navigation
Under Borrowing, find the book
Tap Return Book

What happens next depends on who owns the copy.

Library-owned books

Pick the spot you’re leaving the book at, optionally upload a proof photo, and confirm. Confirming records the return immediately and the book becomes available for the next borrower right away — there’s no second confirmation step.

Member-owned books

You’ll be asked how you’re returning it:

Drop off at a pickup spot — leave it at the library for the owner to collect
Hand off in person — give it back to the owner directly

The Drop off at a pickup spot option only appears when the library actually has a pickup spot. For home libraries (and any library without a configured spot), there’s nowhere to drop off, so returns are always an in-person hand-off — that option is selected for you.

Confirming records the return immediately. The owner is then asked to confirm they got it back — if they don’t respond within 7 days, the return auto-confirms. Only confirm once you’ve actually returned the book.

When you choose Drop off at a pickup spot, you can also upload a proof photo of the book at the return location. You can attach a short note to the owner before confirming either way.

Proof Photos

When you drop a book off at a pickup spot, you can optionally upload a photo as evidence of the return — the same way the lender does when dropping a book off. Proof photos aren’t used for in-person hand-offs, since the book goes straight to the owner. They’re helpful when:

The library is unmanned
You want a record of what condition the book was in
The book is valuable or rare

The photo is attached to the loan and visible to the owner and library admins. For member-owned books the photo is recommended; for library-owned books it’s optional. You can take the photo from your camera or upload from your gallery (JPEG, PNG, WebP, or HEIC). Large camera photos are compressed automatically before upload.

Owner Confirmation

After you confirm the return on a member-owned book, the owner gets a “Confirm Return” prompt with two options:

Yes, I Got It Back — the loan closes immediately
I Haven’t Received It — opens an admin escalation so a library admin can help resolve it

If the owner doesn’t respond within 7 days, the return is auto-confirmed and the loan closes.

While the confirmation is pending, the loan shows “Waiting for [owner] to confirm they got it back” on your loan history — so “Returned” never silently changes out from under you if the owner reports a problem.

For Owners

If someone borrowed your personal copy and handed it back to you in person without tapping Return Book in the app, the loan may still show as active.

Open Loans and tap the loan
Tap I received it back
Confirm in the dialog — the loan closes immediately and your copy becomes available again

The borrower is notified that you recorded the return. If they disagree, use the loan’s messaging or dispute flow.

Returning On Time

Each loan has a due date set when you picked the book up. You’ll get reminders 3 days before the due date and on the due date itself.

Returning on or before the due date helps your reliability score. If you need more time, renew it before the due date — see Borrowing a book.

Late Returns

If the due date passes without a return:

The loan moves to Overdue and you’ll get an overdue notification
Your reliability score gradually drops the longer the book is out
The owner can recall the book, which gives you 7 days to return it — see Recalling a book

The return process itself doesn’t change when a loan is overdue — just complete it the same way as soon as you can.

After You Return

Once the return is recorded:

The loan moves to Returned
The book becomes available again
Anyone on the waitlist is notified

Still Need Help?

If you’re having trouble returning a book, contact support.