Import Public Library Borrowing History

It would be wonderful to have the e-books and audiobooks I borrow in Libby, from Overdrive, imported to my LibraryThing.

I import from Amazon, because I think that is the source material for Libby. Well, I have a kindle, so that is the reason, I guess. Then I have a collection, "Read but Unowned" after I finish the book. I also have "library" and "ebook" as tags. That allows me to trace everything. "Read but unowned" might also include books borrowed from people, so I need the tags.

I import from Amazon, because I think that is the source material for Libby.

It is? Well, hell. Our library uses Libby, but I have a strict "no books from Amazon" policy. Hmm.

Libby is Overdrive's app. Its source material is your public library.

>3 lorax: Yes, I am sure that is true. It is just that since I have a kindle, Libby sends me to Amazon to borrow the book. I don't think Amazon gets any money.

Frankly I'm as concerned about the data as about the money. I don't want Amazon knowing what I borrow from the library. I do NOT have a Kindle, so the connection was invisible to me - neither Libby nor my Amazon account admit to the connection. Again, are you certain that this is actually how Libby works, as opposed to how it works on a Kindle? Libby's website is no help.

To return to the topic at hand, though, without the dismaying revalation that Libby is apparently secretly sending all my data to Amazon, it looks like you can export your history from Libby to a spreadsheet, which you should then be able to import to LT (after rearranging and re-naming the columns to conform to LT's input format):

https://help.libbyapp.com/en-us/6207.htm?Highlight=export

>6 lorax:

Libby is the app for Overdrive, which connects to your public library. You are borrowing the book from the library; you are not getting it from Amazon.

When you send a book to the Libby app, you have the option of opening it in your Kindle device. Just don't choose that option.

lilithcat (#8):

I'm aware that I'm borrowing the book from my library, but it seems to me that krazy4katz was saying, with 100% confidence, that the ultimate source of the book, for the library, was Amazon ("source material" is a very different thing from "platform where you can choose to view some content", after all.)

This is a side issue, though, as Libby allows export without going through Amazon (which is unavailable if you don't use a Kindle / the Kindle app, even if Libby is secretly sharing the data).

>9 lorax: To be honest, I don't remember when I borrow from my library directly and when I borrow from Libby. However, when I look at my list of books in Amazon, it lists books I borrowed, including ones I downloaded from other sources (e.g. the Baha'i Center) onto my laptop and sent to my kindle from Calibre.That requires an email address attached to my kindle by Amazon. I have no idea how this works, so don't take this with "100% confidence". I am just telling you what I have observed.

ETA: I just checked the books I have listed as "having been borrowed" in Libby and the list is similar but not identical to the list on Amazon. I honestly don't know what this means. It might be worth someone else who uses Libby exclusively to check if they have a list of borrowed books on Amazon. I think it is because I have a kindle.

>10 krazy4katz:

I've only borrowed library books via Libby, opening them in the Libby app, and I don't see any list of borrowed books on Amazon.

Where on Amazon do you see it?

>11 lilithcat: If you choose to send books to a kindle, they will show up as borrows in your kindle content. This doesn't happen if you aren't sending books to a kindle.

>11 lilithcat: Check under "manage your digital content and devices". You have to sign in. On my account, it shows everything: samples you downloaded directly from Amazon, digital purchases from Amazon and, seemingly, my borrowed books via Libby or directly from my local library.

>13 krazy4katz:

The only content I see are books that I bought for Kindle.

Which suggests that Amazon is not privy to what you borrow from the library and open in the Libby app. If you use your Kindle to read them, then they'll know.

>13 krazy4katz: Your libby and library borrows show up because you send them to your kindle. They won't for people like lilithcat who are using the libby app for reading.

I use Libby exclusively and do not have a Kindle. As I said, I do not have a list of borrowed books on Amazon. I think that you're seeing what you do because you have a Kindle, not because Libby uses Amazon as the "source material".

>15 amanda4242: >16 lorax: OK, thank you. That makes sense. I never thought about using the Libby app on my tablet.