Personal Libraries

Possible Credits (Maximum 5)

Create a LibraryThing account and join at least one group (5 credits)

What are personal libraries?

LibraryThing is a cataloging and social networking site for book lovers. Founded in 2005 by web developer Tim Spalding, it currently has over 1 million registered users who have catalogued over 47 million books.

LibraryThing allows users to see other members’ libraries to find people with similar reading tastes. LibraryThing also makes book recommendations based on the collective intelligence of the other libraries. A free account at LibraryThing allows members to catalog up to 200 books. A paid account ($10 a year or $25 a lifetime) allows members to catalog an unlimited number of books.

Take the LibraryThing tour

Why do I care?

Unlike other personal online library sites that primarily use Amazon.com for cataloging member books, LibraryThing is a full-powered cataloging application, searching the Library of Congress, all five national Amazon sites, and more than 80 world libraries. Members can edit their information, tag it, or use the Library of Congress or Dewey systems to organize their collections.

Both LibraryThing and Goodreads allow users to easily import and export their booklists. Both websites also have mobile sites for cellphones so users can download booklists, recommendations (LibraryThing) and wish lists (Goodreads).

How do I get credits?

  1. Go to LibraryThing and click Join Now to become a member.
  2. Add 3 -5 books that you have read to your library. Then rate and tag them.
  3. From the Home screen click on Recommendations to see what books LibraryThing suggests for you based on your titles.
  4. Click the Zeitgeist tab (top right) to see the data that LibraryThing compiles.
  5. Click the magnifying class in the search box to open advance search. Then click on Groups on the left, and join a group!