I was a long-time, faithful user of Overdrive for listening to audiobooks from my library (and the occasional ebook that wasn’t available through Kindle). When Overdrive announced last year that they were going to be discontinuing the Overdrive app and told everyone to switch over to Libby, I wasn’t necessarily excited. But I downloaded the Libby app and continued using Overdrive through the end of 2022.

I knew Overdrive was going away early in 2023, but I didn’t know exactly when, so in January 2023, I started using the Libby app instead. I am not a huge fan of change. I do better with routines and prefer to use the same apps and programs that I am comfortable with. I went into the new-to-me app with skepticism. But I actually really like it!

Everything is easy to see on your library shelf, including whether or not (and how many) people are waiting for a book you currently have checked out. You can also easily renew or place a hold on any book from your shelf. It also shows how many days are left, and how many hours each audio book is (you can even see this when you check out). The hold shelf also tells you not only approximately how long until the book is available, but how many people are waiting and where you are in line.

I find checking books out to be much easier through Libby than it was through Overdrive. I no longer have to log into a different screen for the library, everything can be done through the search bar on the app. Since I generally know what book I want next, this makes finding it and checking it out a breeze. If I don’t know what book I want next, I still have the option to browse the library as well.

Overall, I actually prefer the Libby app to Overdrive. Even if Overdrive were still around, I would be a Libby convert.