Set Libby’s audiobook searches to human narrators

In Libby, choosing human narration means setting both a narrator preference and where it applies. The app now documents controls for both. If you want human narration throughout its library lists and searches, changing only the narrator preference leaves one more switch to check.[1]

The steps below follow Libby’s help pages updated on 14 and 15 October. We checked the documentation; we did not test a signed-in library account.

Choose the narration and its scope

1. Open Menu, then Content Controls.
2. Choose AI Contributions.
3. Under Audio, select Human narrators only.
4. Under Where to apply filters, turn off Deep search only to apply the preference to all library lists and searches.

The last step changes where the preference works. Leaving that switch on limits the filter to the expanded search for titles your library does not own.[1]

Understand the two catalogues

An ordinary library search and a search beyond its collection can lead to different actions. Libby’s deep search can show titles carrying Notify Me instead of Borrow or Place Hold. Those results let readers register interest in a book that is not currently offered by their library. A notification can arrive if one of their libraries later adds it.[3]

To explore those results, Libby documents a deep-search option at the bottom of search results or among the search filters. If a search returns more than 100 results, it advises making the query more specific first. This discovery feature is available through participating libraries, so its absence does not necessarily mean you have missed a setting.[3]

Choose the narrower scope if that wider discovery catalogue is the only place you want the narration filter. Choose the broader scope if you want the same preference when browsing the collection your library already holds.[1]

Repeat the choice on each device

Libby says content controls do not sync between devices. A preference set on a phone therefore needs to be set again on a tablet or another device. If the two show different behaviour, check the controls on each one before assuming the filter has failed.[2]

For a simple completion check, reopen the controls on every device you use and confirm both the narration choice and the area it applies to. A phone and a tablet should each show the scope you intended.

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