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/decline join requests | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Approve/decline book submissions | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Approve/decline borrow requests for library-owned books | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Add library-owned books | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Create reading plans | ✓ | ✓ | —* |
| Feature books | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Remove regular members | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Promote/demote admins | ✓ | — | — |
| Day-to-day library settings (name, location, lending, submissions, pickup spots) | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Plan, billing, features, transfer ownership, delete library | ✓ | — | — |
* Members designated as Facilitators can create and run their own reading plans — see below.
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 → 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 Settings → Advanced (you remain an admin), or delete the library if it is no longer needed.
Transferring a library with a paid subscription: the subscription stays billed to your payment method until the new owner takes over billing under Plan & billing (they’ll see a Take over billing prompt, and both of you get a reminder every 7 days until it’s done). Until then you keep access to Manage subscription — so you can still update your card, view invoices, or cancel — and plan changes are paused for everyone. If you later leave the library while it’s still billed to you, you can reach the same billing page any time from your account Settings: tap the library under Subscriptions billed to you. If you’d rather stop paying before handing the library over, cancel the subscription first; note the library may lose grandfathered pricing and will move to Free limits when the cancellation takes effect.
Admins handle day-to-day library work. Many large libraries use several admins.
Admin capabilities:
- Approve or decline 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, 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
- Recommend 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.
Special designations
Section titled “Special designations”Two designations layer extra capabilities onto a member without making them an admin:
- Trusted — the member’s shared books skip the approval queue (when auto-approval is enabled).
- Facilitator — the member can create reading plans and run the plans they create: schedule, prompts, invitations, and their group’s progress. They never see the admin dashboard, and only admins can feature a plan or announce one to all members. Available on any paid plan; manage it under People → Facilitators. See Facilitating a Reading Plan.
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
- Library-owned books can be on shelf (grab-and-go checkout) or staff retrieves (a volunteer sets the book out) — see lending rules under Library Settings and per-book Pickup method on Inventory
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.