Libby launches 'Inspire Me', a new AI tool for instant book recommendations

Libby is introducing 'Inspire Me', a new AI-powered tool launching in September that helps users discover new books by generating five recommendations at a time based on saved titles or prompts, always selecting from titles immediately available to borrow so readers can download and start reading right away.

Libby by Overdrive, the company behind Libby, emphasizes that Inspire Me does not collect unnecessary personal data, only uses titles users choose to share, excludes tags or device identifiers, and ensures no data is shared with third parties or external AI models.

Some users and librarians remain cautious, raising concerns about privacy and the risk of AI replacing human curation, although the company insists the tool is meant to complement librarian recommendations rather than replace them. Inspire Me will officially roll out in September, but those interested can already try it by searching #InspireMe in the app.