How to listen to audiobooks on Libby

What you need before you start

Libby is a free app from OverDrive for borrowing ebooks, audiobooks and magazines from your public library. Libby Help says it is completely free: no subscription, no in-app purchases, and no late fees, because digital loans return themselves on the due date. All you need is a library card from a library that lends through OverDrive.

It runs on iPhone and iPad, Android phones and tablets, and newer Fire tablets. On a Windows or Mac computer or a Chromebook, you use it in a browser at libbyapp.com. Your library decides which titles it offers, how long loans last, and how many you can borrow at once, so two people in different towns will see different catalogs.

Step by step: borrow and play your first audiobook

1. Install Libby and follow the prompts to find your library and sign in with your card.
2. Search for a title or author. Use the filter to show audiobooks only, and the availability filter to show titles you can borrow now.
3. Tap Borrow. If every copy is out, tap Place Hold instead; Libby notifies you when it is your turn.
4. Open your Shelf and tap the loan, then Open Audiobook. Playback starts where you left off every time.
5. Set your playback speed and sleep timer (see below). Libby saves your sleep timer choice for next time, except the end-of-chapter option.

Can you listen to Libby audiobooks offline?

Yes. Libby can stream over Wi-Fi or mobile data, or download loans for offline listening. In the app, open the Menu and then Downloads, under Settings. You can choose to download Everything automatically after you borrow, only Titles Under a size you set (20 MB by default, which usually means books but not audiobooks), or Nothing.

There is also a Download Only On Wi-Fi setting. Turn it on. Libby Help notes that most audiobooks are more than 300 MB, which is a lot of mobile data to burn by accident. If your audio skips while streaming, Libby's own advice is to download the title instead.

The three settings that matter for ADHD listeners

Speed. Tap the playback speed icon at the top of the player and choose a preset, or drag the fine-tune slider anywhere from 0.6x to 3x. Many people find a slightly faster speed holds attention better; others need it slower for dense nonfiction. There is no correct number. Try three speeds in one session and keep the one where your mind wanders least.

Sleep timer. Choose a preset or drag the fine-tune slider to anywhere from 5 to 120 minutes, or pick the end-of-chapter option. End of chapter is the ADHD setting: if you drift off or get pulled away, you lose at most the rest of one chapter, and you restart at a clean break.

Downloads on Wi-Fi only, as above. It removes one reason a long book stalls: the loan that would not play on the train.

What if the due date lands mid-book?

It will, eventually. Our Libby card's catch line is exactly this: your library picks the catalog, popular titles mean hold queues, and a due date can land mid-book. When a loan expires, the title returns automatically. You can usually place another hold right away; your listening position is typically restored when you borrow it again, but check before you assume.

The bigger problem is the gap. Two weeks in a hold queue is long enough to forget who everyone is. That is the moment a recap that stops at your place earns its keep: Kindle's Story So Far if the book is a Kindle ebook, or Magic Bookmark, which added audiobook support on 2026-10-27 for its supported titles; you type the last phrase you heard. Read the audiobook recap note for details. A free alternative is our printable cast list, filled in as you listen.

When Libby is not enough

If you keep hitting hold queues for the books you actually want, or you want to keep the audiobook, a paid service may be worth it. Our Libro.fm or Audible guide compares the two memberships. Try a month of finishing library loans first; it is the cheapest way to find out whether audiobooks stick for you at all.