Libby, OverDrive’s hugely popular library app, has recently released their “Inspire Me” feature. This brand new, inventive addition will make the book discovery experience more powerful and intuitive for users. OverDrive made the official launch of this exciting new tool at its annual conference, held this year from October 27-29, 2025. It’s our new “Inspire Me” feature that really taps into the magic of generative AI. It provides individualized book recommendations, allowing readers to easily find upcoming and new titles across their local libraries.
It’s pretty easy to get into Inspire Me — a user can just tap the button to the feature found right on Libby’s home screen. Once turned on, readers can ask for suggestions of fiction and nonfiction titles. This new feature gives them the ability to hone their recommendations. They can filter by things such as age range and type of content. Libby will then show you five similar titles that fit what the reader enjoys to build on the reading experience and save a reader’s time.
The way AI works into this new feature is specifically designed to augment—not replace—the human intuition and expertise that librarians provide. Jen Leitman, OverDrive’s Chief Marketing Officer, really underscored this in her new tool announcement statement.
“By surfacing titles that align with what readers are searching for, Inspire Me helps patrons discover more of the books their libraries have already invested in. It’s not about replacing human insight, it’s about making discovery easier, smarter, and more intuitive.” – Jen Leitman, OverDrive’s Chief Marketing Officer.
If users choose to share one of their saved tags with the AI, it is extremely important to know what occurs thereafter. The AI has access only to these titles, which it uses to create unique, personalized recommendations. The system includes strong, user-centric measures to preserve privacy. Second, it guarantees that no personally identifiable information regarding you, your device, or the actual contents of the tag descriptions enters the AI.
This new feature gives patrons more power to discover the millions of titles available in their libraries’ collections. It increases the likelihood that readers will find new books they want to read. Libraries are already working hard to build diverse collections. “Inspire Me” provides users with a creative and disruptor-friendly vehicle to access and explore these diverse offerings.
The next phase of the “Inspire Me” feature will be fully deployed by September 2026. From then on, all Libby users will be able to use the feature! Whether using our provided prompts or looking back at their own lists of favorite past titles to get the most out of this exciting new resource.
“Inspire Me uses responsible AI integration to help patrons dive deeper into the incredible catalogs their local libraries have curated.” – Jen Leitman.