There are many reasons you might want to limit Libby search results by age group. Maybe you have children using Libby, and you want to ensure only appropriate content is available to them. Perhaps you’re an adult with no interest in seeing children’s books in your search results. Or maybe you are an adult, but you don’t want to check out a title that’s more explicit than you like. Libby’s content control settings can assist you with any of these scenarios.
Getting Started
Keep in mind, if you use Libby on multiple devices, you’ll need to set the content controls on each device.
To change content control settings, open the Libby app and tap the menu icon in the center of the bottom menu 
. Scroll down to the settings area and select “Content Controls.”
Limit Content for Children
The most common use for content control is to keep children from accessing inappropriate content. By default, the app is set to “Libby for Everyone,” which shows all titles. To make it kid-safe, tap the head to the left to show “Libby for Kids.” This will limit the available titles on searching and browsing screens to those appropriate for juvenile (0-12) and young adult (13-18) readers.
Additional toggles under that setting allow for further restriction of young adult titles for our younger patrons.
If you would like to lock the settings so only you can change them, be sure to set up a passkey in the app. A passkey is also handy for transferring your Libby settings to a new device.
The Libby for Kids settings will prevent general or mature titles from appearing while browsing or searching. However, it hides nothing from your Shelf or Tags screens. If there are adult items already checked out or tagged in the app on that device, they will be visible to anyone using the app. To make the app more secure, remove adult library cards and loans from the app on the device the child will be using.
Limit Content for Adults
If you are not interested in children’s books, you can set the content controls to remove this content from browsing and searching screens. This helps simplify the screen by narrowing it down to just the content you might check out.
Tap the head to the right to select “Libby for Grown-ups.” If you like young adult books, no problem! There is a toggle you can activate to include young adult content, as well.
If you are an adult who wants to opt out of mature content, you can select the center head for “Libby for Everyone.”
Use the toggles below to restrict access to each type of mature content.
You will still be able to find mature titles when searching, but note the special card icon and text that indicates the content is restricted. Checkout is blocked if attempted.
Bonus: Pinned Filters
Content filters are available for more than just age groups. For instance, if you only read adult nonfiction, the age group filter only does part of the job. To automatically limit your search results by fiction/nonfiction, format (book or audio), subject/genre, or other criteria, you can pin a filter (or sort) to the top of the screen.
Start on the search page, then tap the menu icon in the upper left under “Catalog Filters:”
Select a filter or sort. Note that many more filters are available than are shown. To see more, tap “Explore All.” You can select multiple filters, but you can only pin one at a time.
When you have finished setting your criteria, tap “Show [#] Titles” in the upper right.
Tap your selected filter or sort (in purple at the top) to pop up a menu explaining the filter/sort. Scroll down and select “Pin Filter” or “Pin Sort.” Only one filter can be pinned at a time. However, you can add a second pinned filter by tapping that selected filter and repeating the pinning process.
To remove the pinned filter, tap on it and scroll down to tap “Remove Filter.”
Summary
Content controls are a way to limit available titles in Libby for a variety of circumstances. Use them to ensure you only see the content you’re looking for while using the app or to safeguard kids from seeing inappropriate content.
