Libby

Libby is one of the best apps to make your spare time feel more productive and rewarding. With it, you can borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines from your local library with nothing more than your library card, letting you read or listen without spending a cent.

This is a great replacement for your social media feeds because it still gives you something easy to open and consume when you’re bored. Instead of refreshing a feed, you can read a few pages of a novel, listen to an audiobook, or browse magazines from your library. It’s slower than scrolling, but in the best way possible. Plus, you might even learn something new, or discover novels and worlds you would never find on Instagram.

Libby also works well for people who don’t always have time to sit down with a physical book. You can read while waiting in line, listen to a book during a walk, or download some good titles before a big trip. Since it supports offline reading and listening, it’s also useful when you don’t want to rely on cellular data. 

On the other hand, you need to keep in mind that this still works like a library — which means you’ll have to “return” your books after your loan period expires. Likewise, if a title you’re interested in is already borrowed, you’ll have to wait to get it.

Still, if doomscrolling has replaced reading in your life, Libby is one of the easiest ways to bring that back for free.