1-16-2026

Last week we had a number of patrons stop in specifically for help with the Libby App. One day there were people. That seems like a hint from the universe that Libby needs another article. The timing is right as hoopla is now gone and the teams behind Wisconsin’s Libby experience have been working to soften that particular blow.

Everyone who stopped in last week were interested in using Libby for the audiobooks. We used to do a brisk business in the books on CD collection. As cars and households move away from CD players, that has dropped off. The replacement technology includes Playaways, which don’t have built in speakers but can use wired headphones and auxiliary cables to stereos, speakers, and cars, and Libby, which is available on the smart phone most users already carry. The phones have their own speakers and can pair with headphones, speakers, and cars through Bluetooth or cables. Playaways have shorter hold times, but phones are right there.

Libby also provides ebooks and magazines. A quick look at my phone app reads, “A list of over 4,800 titles”. Included are Staples like Time along with the British celebrity magazine HELLO!, Us Weekly, Healthy Food Guide, Complete Air Fryer Recipe Guide, Guitarist Annual, Psychology Now, and a variety of specialty or feature editions. Users may flip through the pages or select an article and actually be able to read the font. Personally, I would prefer to read magazines on a tablet or computer, but the article option did make the reading more accessible to my tired eyes and kept the pictures.

The home page offers several curated collections. Some are standard such as Lucky Day items, copies of popular titles that don’t allow holds, Available Now, Kids, Teens, etc. Others are timely such as the current Best Books of 2025 or In Memoriam (this is how I learned Fern Michaels passed in 2025, and Take Up a New Hobby. New collections include Always Available Romance and Available Now Mystery. Each of which include roughly 500 titles every library card holder in Wisconsin could checkout today. This most closely resembles the hoopla model.

Libby is available to anyone with a Wisconsin public library card. Once the app is downloaded Wisconsin Public Library Consortium open on an internet browser, simply log in. Select Wisconsin Public Library Consortium as the library then Prairie Lakes Library System OR East Troy Lions Public Library. I pick PLLS as it is higher on the dropdown list and I don’t want to type. Then log in with the library card number and pin. Call or stop in with any questions.

Reading Now: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Listening to Now: Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones