Last year, I had a popular title on hold in Libby for about five months before it was finally my turn to read it.
In a cruel stroke of bad luck, my entire family came down with a flu that had me bedridden for almost the entire 14-day loan period.
I got about 15% of the way through when the loan expired, and I had to start again at the back of the line.
If anything like this has ever happened to you, or if you’ve ever pulled an all-nighter, trying to finish an e-book before your loan expires, this trick is for you.
Before borrowing, try suspending your holds
Your first line of defense against disappointment
Libby’s “Deliver Later” feature was changed to “Suspend” in November 2025.
It’s extremely handy for the inevitable times when a long-awaited hold becomes available while you’re in the middle of another read, or when several holds are ready to borrow at the same time.
Suspending your hold will keep your place at the front of the line until you are ready to read it, and keeps the title circulating in the meantime.
When you unsuspend it, you will get the next available copy of the e-book.
When a hold is ready to borrow, you have 72 hours to either borrow, suspend, or cancel the hold.
If you miss the window, Libby will suspend it automatically as a one-time courtesy.
If your hold is suspended for 365 consecutive days, it will lapse.
If you’re not certain you’ll be able to finish an e-book within the loan period, this is the simplest way to make sure it’s still available when you do have time.
What if you already borrowed the e-book?
It’s on your shelf, the clock is ticking, you’re almost out of time
Don’t panic. The solution is as simple as turning off your e-reader’s Wi-Fi.
On Kindle, this is best achieved by using Airplane Mode, and Kobo’s Wi-Fi settings are easily located at the top of the screen in the main menu.
Disabling Wi-Fi will prevent your e-reader from syncing with your Libby account on your phone, which will in turn prevent the file from being removed from your e-reader when the loan expires.
The best part is that the e-book will still be automatically returned in the Libby app, and continue circulating so that other readers aren’t prevented from enjoying it.
As long as your e-reader is disconnected from the internet, the e-book should stay on the device.
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One all-important rule
You must keep your e-reader on, and keep the e-book open on your e-reader for this trick to work.
If you close the e-book to return to My Books or Home, its status will refresh, and you will only have access to preview mode.
I don’t know how or why exiting the e-book causes it not to work anymore, since the Wi-Fi is disconnected.
My best guess is that it has something to do with the Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology in the EPUB file itself.
The DRM has a set date and time for expiration, and it can probably use the clock in your e-reader to automatically expire once it’s refreshed.
Results may vary
This trick has worked every time I’ve used it on my Kobo Clara 2E (many times) for the last three years. It may work differently or not at all on Kindle or other e-readers like Boox or Onyx.
I have heard Kindle users say they use this trick for several e-book loans at a time and have no issues switching between them, so play around and see what works for your device.
If you just want to read faster
Try these tips to boost your speed
Play around with fonts. A larger font size can help a lot.
If you minimize visual overwhelm and eye movement, your brain may better retain the content you’re reading. Additionally, your eyes may like one font more than another.
Most e-readers come with pretty diverse font options, so try them out and see what you prefer.
Grab the audiobook too. If I’m really struggling to get through a read, I’ll also borrow the audiobook if it’s available.
Sometimes following along is much easier than reading alone.
If it’s not available at your local library, you could try a free trial of an app like Audible.
Use a visual pacer. Your finger, a writing utensil, a stylus, anything that can physically track the words you’re reading will help to prevent you from backtracking, which we all do naturally.
Go read in peace
It can be so hard to find enough time to get through library books in time.
If you’re an e-reader user, this simple trick should help take the edge off of those return dates. After all, reading should be a leisure activity, not another task with a deadline.
