Understanding Member Roles
Every library has three roles: Owner, Admin, and Member. Your role controls what you can change in the library—not whether you can borrow or share books.
Role comparison
Section titled “Role comparison”| Permission | Owner | Admin | Member |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browse and borrow books | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Share personal books with library | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Join reading plans | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Approve/reject join requests | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Approve/reject book submissions | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Add library-owned books | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Create reading plans | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Feature books | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Remove regular members | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Promote/demote admins | ✓ | — | — |
| Day-to-day library settings (name, visibility, lending, submissions, pickup spots) | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Plan, billing, features, transfer ownership, delete library | ✓ | — | — |
The owner created the library. There is exactly one owner.
Owner capabilities:
- Everything admins and members can do
- Promote members to admin or demote admins back to member
- Transfer ownership to any member (Manage → Library Settings → Advanced → Transfer ownership; non-admins are promoted to admin automatically)
- Delete the library
Important: The owner cannot leave the library or be removed. To step back, transfer ownership in Library Settings → Advanced (you remain an admin), or delete the library if it is no longer needed.
Admins handle day-to-day library work. Many large libraries use several admins.
Admin capabilities:
- Approve or reject join requests
- Review and approve book submissions from members
- Add and remove books from the library collection
- Create and manage reading plans
- Feature books for the community
- Remove regular members from the library
- Change day-to-day settings: name, description, public/private visibility, location, lending rules, submission workflow, pickup spots
- Everything members can do
Admins cannot:
- Promote or demote other admins (owner only)
- Remove the owner or another admin
- Change plan, billing, or feature modules
- Transfer ownership or delete the library
Member
Section titled “Member”Members are everyone else in the library.
Member capabilities:
- Browse and borrow books
- Share personal books with the library (may need approval—see below)
- Join reading plans
- Favorite books
Book sharing: Whether a member’s shared book appears right away depends on your library’s submission workflow. Admins’ and owners’ shared books are always approved automatically. You can also mark specific members as Trusted on the People tab so their submissions skip the queue when auto-approval is enabled.
How roles work with book ownership
Section titled “How roles work with book ownership”Library-owned books
- Belong to the library (like a traditional collection)
- Only owners and admins can add them
- Loans are often auto-approved when a copy is available; your library can require librarian approval instead—see lending rules under Library Settings
Member-owned books
- Personal books a member chooses to share
- Any member can share their books
- The person who shared the book approves each loan request
Your role affects whether your shared books need review—not whether you approve loans on books someone else shared.
- Start with a few admins—add more as the library grows
- Pick active admins—they should respond to requests and submissions promptly
Related Articles
Section titled “Related Articles”Still Need Help?
Section titled “Still Need Help?”If you have questions about roles and permissions, contact support.