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 add a photo of the book at the spot, 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. Usually the lender collects it — but if someone’s on the waitlist, the book can stay right there for the next reader (the lender approves each handoff)
Hand off in person — give it back to the lender directly

The Drop off at a pickup spot option only appears when the library actually has a pickup spot. For a library without a configured pickup 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 lender 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.

If someone’s waiting for the book and you dropped it at a pickup spot, the app may hold it there for the next reader instead: the lender gets asked whether to leave it in place, and the loan completes once the next reader picks it up (or the lender confirms they have it back). Your side works exactly the same either way.

When you choose Drop off at a pickup spot, you can also add a photo of the book at the spot. You can attach a short note to the lender before confirming either way.

Marked it returned by mistake? Right after you confirm, a notice at the bottom of the screen offers Undo. For five minutes, the loan itself also shows Undo return. Either one puts the loan back as it was.

Still marked Reading? If the book is still on your reading list, the app asks Update reading status? instead of showing that notice. Tap Finished it to mark it finished (you’ll see its page count and can tap Recommend it), or choose Paused or Not reading it. The loan still shows Undo return for five minutes.

Proof Photos

When you drop a book off at a pickup spot, you can optionally add a photo as evidence of the return — the same way the lender does when dropping a book off. Tap Add a photo of the book at the spot, take or choose a picture, and it saves right away (the confirm button waits until it has). Tap Remove to delete it. Proof photos aren’t used for in-person hand-offs, since the book goes straight to the lender. 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 lender and library admins. It’s always optional. You can take the photo with your camera or choose one from your gallery (JPEG, PNG, WebP, or HEIC). Large camera photos are compressed automatically before upload.

Lender Confirmation

After you confirm the return on a member-owned book, the lender gets a “Confirm return” prompt, and their loan shows “[your name] marked it returned”. Tapping I got it back closes the loan immediately.

When the book stays at the spot for the next reader, the lender sees “Held at [spot] for the next reader” instead of the confirm prompt — no trip to the library needed. The loan completes automatically when the next reader picks the book up. If the waitlist empties out first, the lender gets the usual “please pick it up and confirm” ask at that point.

If the lender doesn’t actually have the book, they can open the loan and choose I haven’t received this yet from the loan’s ⋯ menu. That moves the loan back to active and notifies you — no admin is involved. The loan’s chat is the best place to sort out where the book is; if you need a library admin’s help, tap Get help at the top of the loan’s Messages tab.

If the lender doesn’t respond within 7 days, the return is auto-confirmed and the loan closes. An auto-confirm isn’t final for the lender, though — if the book never actually came back, I haven’t received this yet is still available from the loan’s ⋯ menu afterward.

While the confirmation is pending, the loan shows “Waiting for [lender] to confirm they got it back” on your loan history — so “Returned” never silently changes out from under you if the lender reports a problem. If the book is being held at the spot for the next reader, that line reads “It’s staying at [spot] for the next reader” instead.

For Lenders

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 got 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.

Letting them keep it

If you’d rather give them that copy than get it back, open the loan, tap ⋯, and choose Let them keep it. Confirm in the sheet — the loan ends, the copy moves into their My Books, and your quantity drops by one. They are notified; they do not have to accept. This cannot be undone, and the copy is not automatically shared into their libraries.

This is only for your personal copy on an active checkout (or overdue loan). Library-owned books cannot be gifted this way. You cannot remove a book from My Books while a copy is still on loan — use Let them keep it from the loan’s ⋯ menu instead.

Returning On Time

Each loan has a due date set when you picked the book up. You’ll get a reminder a week before the due date (that’s also when renewals open), another 3 days before, and one on the due date itself.

Returning on or before the due date keeps your track record clean — owners see how many of your returns were on time when you ask to borrow. 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 the reminders continue — 1 day, 3 days, and a week past due
Once it’s a week or more overdue, owners you ask to borrow from see a short heads-up that you have an overdue book. It goes away as soon as the book is returned
A return more than a week late counts toward a heads-up too (two in six months starts one; three on-time returns in a row clear it, and a return only a few days late doesn’t reset that count)
The lender can ask for it back early, which gives you 7 days to return it — see Asking for a book back early

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.