Library Types and Visibility

Choose the right library type and visibility settings to match how your community shares books.

Library Types

When you create a library, you’ll choose from four types:

| Type | Best For | |------|----------|-------------------| | Church | Congregations, places of worship | | School | Schools, homeschool co-ops | | Home | Family or personal libraries operated from home | | Community | Everything else: Organizations, clubs, neighborhoods |

Your library type helps organize your collection and determines your default settings. You can always change the visibility after creating your library.

Home Libraries

Home libraries have a streamlined experience designed for family or personal use — sharing books with family, friends, or anyone you want to share with:

Faster setup — skip the address step during creation (you can add one later if you want neighbors to discover your library)
No library-owned books — all books belong to individual members who share them; there’s no concept of “the library owns this book”
Auto-approve by default — books shared by members are automatically approved, and loan requests are automatically accepted
Simplified admin — the moderation and library books management sections are hidden since they don’t apply

Public vs Private Libraries

Public Libraries

Public libraries can be discovered by anyone searching for libraries in your area.

How discovery works:

Your library appears in search results for users within your configured distance (up to 100 miles)
Anyone can see your library name, description, and book count
Users must request to join—you approve or decline each request

Public libraries are ideal for churches, community centers, and organizations that want to be discovered by nearby users.

Private Libraries

Private libraries are invitation-only and won’t appear in search results.

How access works:

Only people you invite can see or join your library (it does not appear in search)
Share an invite by email, auto-join link, or your library page link—each works differently
See Promoting your library for expiration rules and step-by-step instructions

Private libraries are perfect for home libraries, small groups, and study circles where you know everyone who should have access.

Changing Visibility Settings

Library admins can switch between public and private at any time:

Open your library and tap Manage in the top right
Tap Settings → Discoverability
Choose Private or Public

Your choice saves automatically.

When switching to public:

Your library needs a location set; if it doesn’t have one, you’ll see a “Set location” warning
Set a discovery range (how far away people can find you)
Your library appears in search results immediately

When switching to private:

Your library disappears from search results
Existing members keep their access

Discovery Radius

For public libraries, you control how far away people can discover your library:

Small radius (5-10 miles): Neighborhood-focused
Medium radius (25 miles): City or regional reach
Large radius (50-100 miles): Wide area coverage

Consider your community’s geography. A city church might use 10 miles, while a rural community library might use 50 miles.

Tips

Start private, go public later—You can always open up your library once you’re comfortable with the setup
Update your address if you move—Discovery depends on accurate location information

Still Need Help?

If you have questions about library types or visibility, contact support.