borrowbook
The field guide toborrowing ebooks

Is the ebook at
your library?

Borrowbook is a free Chrome extension. While you browse StoryGraph, Goodreads or Amazon — or highlight any title — it checks your Libby libraries and tells you whether the ebook is there to borrow.

Coming soon to Chrome How it works ↓

Beloved

Toni Morrison

  • swissavailable now · 1 of 1 free
  • chipublibwaitlist · 34 holds · ~45 days
  • edinburghno ebook search ↗

Available first, then the shortest wait.

Where you’ll see it.

One pill per library, right where you already look. Nothing to open, nothing to search.

StoryGraph

Right under the title.

Every book page gets a pill for each of your libraries: free copies now, or the wait. Any edition counts — it matches title and author, not ISBN.

Always on

A StoryGraph book page for Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid with three Borrowbook pills: swiss available now, edinburgh and chipublib on a waitlist.

Goodreads

Goodreads, too.

Switch it on in settings and the same pills appear under the author, in the same colours.

Opt-in

The Goodreads page for Meet Me at the Surface by Jodie Matthews with Borrowbook pills under the author: swiss available now, chipublib on a waitlist.

Amazon

Before you buy it.

On Kindle, paperback or hardcover pages across 20 Amazon stores — you pick which. If it’s at your library, borrow it instead.

Opt-in · 20 stores

An Amazon Kindle page for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy with Borrowbook pills for three libraries.

Highlight

Highlight any title.

In a review, a newsletter, a list: select “Title by Author”, press ⌥⇧L or right-click. Every library, sorted by wait.

Any page

The Borrowbook card for a highlighted title in an article, listing each library’s result.

Settings

Your libraries, your colours.

Paste your Libby link, add every card you have, and give each library its own highlighter.

Settings

Borrowbook settings with three libraries, each with a label and a highlighter colour.

Set up once.

About a minute, and then you never open it again.

  1. Step 1

    Add your library

    Open Libby in your browser, pick your library and copy the address — libbyapp.com/library/yourlibrary. Paste it into Borrowbook’s settings.

  2. Step 2

    Add the rest

    Every library you have a card for, each with its own colour. Switch on Goodreads or Amazon if you use them.

  3. Step 3

    Browse as usual

    Pills appear on book pages by themselves. For anything else, highlight “Title by Author” and press ⌥⇧L.

The details.

Free, no account, nothing to sign up for.
The only thing that ever leaves your browser is the title you’re looking at.

Privacy policy →

Works on
StoryGraph (always) · Goodreads · Amazon, 20 stores · any page, by highlighting
Matching
Title and author, any edition. A look-alike by someone else never counts.
Order
Available now first, then the shortest wait, then the rest.
Libraries
Any library in Libby. As many as you like, each with its own colour.
Formats
Ebooks only — what Libby lends. Not print, not audiobooks.
Sends
Title and author → your libraries’ public catalogue (OverDrive). Nothing else, nowhere else.
Stores
Your settings, in your browser. Results cached 3 h (owned) / 3 days (not owned).
Browser
Chrome and Chromium browsers (Arc, Brave, Edge)
Price
Free

Questions

How do I find my library’s Libby link?

Open libbyapp.com and choose your library. The address now ends in /library/yourlibrary — paste the whole link into Borrowbook’s settings.

It says “no ebook”, but I know my library has it.

Borrowbook only counts a match when title and author line up, so a heavily reworded title or a translation can slip through. The “no ebook” pill links straight to a Libby search.

Safari or Firefox?

Not yet — Chrome and Chromium browsers for now.