Library Overview

Audiobookshelf organizes your media into libraries. Most actions in the server apply to the currently selected library, including browsing and searching.

Library Scope

Each item only exists in a single library. If you move files from one library to another, Audiobookshelf will treat them as different items. Metadata and user listening progress do not move with them automatically.

Groupings Across Libraries

Authors, series, and podcasts can exist in more than one library, but those groupings are still library-specific. You will only see the items that belong to that author, series, or podcast within the current library.

For example, if an author has Series A in one library and Series B in another, Audiobookshelf will show two separate author entries rather than combining them into one.

Library Item Structure

Libraries use one library item per folder. The exact folder structure depends on the library type, so refer to the documentation for that specific library for supported layouts and naming.