Using Libby: Content Controls!
It's here ya'll! Libby now has AI content controls! And maybe you're like me and didn't realize that Libby already had audience content controls. I was honestly so happy to see that as well. Readers deserve to have control over exactly what they're reading, and Libby is ready to give it to you.
So follow along below to see how to change your content controls!
Step One: The first thing you'll want to do after opening your Libby app is tap the logo in the middle of the bottom bar, shown here circled in red:
Step Two: On the settings page, you will scroll down until you see the content controls option, shown here underlined in red:
Step Three: This will show you the two content controls that Libby currently offers. There's an audience control and an AI contributions control.
We'll start with the Audience controls. Libby defaults to "Libby for Everyone" which does not hide titles at all. You can still tweak these settings by adjusting how much "mature content" (spicy books) you see in your searches. You can toggle off deep searches, samples, whether or not the items can be put on hold, or if the covers show.
To the left of "Libby for Everyone" is "Libby for Kids." This only shows juvenile (0-12) and young adult (13-18) books. But as with Libby for Everyone, you can toggle the YA availbilty.
And finally, to the right of "Libby for Everyone" is "Libby for Grown-ups." This section lets you toggle on YA content, but if you would like to hide mature content then "Libby for Everyone" is your best bet.
Step Four: AI Contributions Controls give you a lot of fine-tuning on how much AI you'd like to see and in what ways. All settings default to allowing AI in all sections.
Text: You can choose to see All Authors (including AI), works that have both AI and Human authors, and works that have only Human authors.
Audio: You can choose to have all narrators (including AI), Human narrators involved (has at least one human narrator), and Human narrators only.
Graphics: This one toggles pictures. All artists allows any art (human or AI), Human artists involved (at least one human artist), and Human artists only.
Translation: All translators (including AI), Human translators involved, and Human translators only.
WHERE TO APPLY FILTERS: this is the most important section. If you want the filters to only apply to FUTURE CONTENT added to the app, leave it as it is. If you would like it to apply to stuff already on the app as well as all of the stuff added in the future, toggle this function off.
"But wait, does that mean that there's already AI content on our Libby?" Probably. Some publishers started adding AI to their works before Libby or Libraries had a chance to implement controls and labels on the content (app coding isn't as quick and easy as it appears!). On top of that, Duncan is part of a library consortium for ebooks. The choices we might make on which books to purchase with our money doesn't apply to every other library, and we do all share our content. To make sure you are getting the exact amount you are personally comfortable with, it's best to turn off the Deep Search Only feature.
"How will I know if a book has AI involved?" Libby will be adding tags and disclosures were necessary to inform readers whether or not a work has AI. This make take time to become widespread, as Libby needs information for authors and publishers to accurately tag books.
"But what if I think a book has AI but there's no tag?" Libby is rolling out a way to report AI concerns. It will look something like this:
What's the take away here? It's great that Libby is giving readers the most control over what they see and borrow in the app! We're looking forward to seeing more fine tuning in the future for readers and for library staff who purchase ebooks in the future!
If you have trouble setting up your Libby controls, please visit us in person at the library! We'll get you all set!
