Guide
Browse public books and open request forms, then bring the right opportunity into your workflow.
Published 2026-08-13 · Reviewed 2026-08-15
Open Open ARCs & Book Catalog from Discover to browse public book information and reader opportunities. On your phone, search and the Open ARCs / All books destinations stay together in the compact Discover header.
Book Catalog
Use the catalogue to look up a title, compare the available information, and start adding the right book to your own Library.
Each catalogue card has a keyboard-ready View details action. Press Tab until the book is announced, then press Enter or Space. Add to TBR remains a separate action, so opening details never adds the book by accident. Global Search the stacks results open the same complete public book page for signed-in and signed-out readers.
Search checks ARC Library's shared catalogue and its synchronized Kobo catalogue before it needs outside book services. Kobo matches are labelled clearly, include only records with a valid ISBN, title, and author, and never show retailer prices. Choosing one still uses ARC Library's normal book checks, so retailer data does not silently replace an existing shared record.
Open a public book page or a book's catalogue detail and use Find This Book for Kobo, Amazon, and Goodreads. Both views open the exact regional Kobo product when the synchronized catalogue has one, then use a tracked regional search only when no exact offer is available. Affiliate links are disclosed and do not change the price you pay. Goodreads is identified separately as a non-affiliate link.
When a submitted book is waiting to join the shared catalogue, a moderator checks its title and author independently across Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, Kobo, and Google. Each shortcut carries the current title and author into that site's search. Opening one does not alter the submission, and the moderator still chooses what belongs in the public record.
In the ARC Library desktop app, the first shortcut opens a verification window on the largest screen away from the Approval Desk. Every later shortcut opens as another tab in that same window, including links that a catalogue tries to open separately. Use the tab close control or Command/Ctrl + W to close one check, and close the verification window when the session is finished. On the website, the browser controls external tabs and windows, so a catalogue's security settings can still require a separate window.
Author names written as First Last or Last, First count as the same person, so formatting alone does not create a false conflict. Obvious lowercase author words are capitalized automatically, and an exact book-database match can supply trusted casing such as Michael Bettendorf without changing the author identity. Approval Desk shows the correction with Undo before it is saved. Descriptions returned by a book database are cleaned into readable paragraphs before they fill the catalogue editor, so raw HTML break tags are never left in the blurb. When a missing description is supplied during review, matching genre and trope suggestions fill immediately and remain reversible with Keep or Undo. Trigger warnings are optional and appear at the end of the Approval Desk after book links, so a missing warning does not hold up an otherwise complete catalogue record.
When a book database returns the exact title and complete author list, or confirms the ISBN/ASIN used for a recheck, matching values turn Verified automatically. If that exact match includes a cover and the submission has none, the cover fills into the draft without another moderator click. Fuzzy matches and conflicting exact sources stay available from the compact field findings control, and an existing submitted cover is never replaced automatically.
The Approval Desk keeps its book details, edition and content, publishing, and retailer links in stable columns on a wide screen, so a long description or a source disagreement does not move a field to another column. Genres and Tropes sit directly below Publisher in the Publishing column, or below Publishing Type when no publisher applies. Retail links retain separate Amazon, Goodreads, Kobo, Bookshop.org, and Other URL values. Saving retains the Kobo URL on the pending record; approving fills the public book only when it does not already have a Kobo link.
Open ARCs
Open request forms are author or team opportunities that are currently available to readers. Phone cards keep the cover, title, author, format, closing state, and one main action in a compact row. Tap the cover or title for full details; Open form goes to an external form, while Review & apply keeps a hosted application inside ARC Library.
On a phone or tablet, form details use four pinned chapters: Brief, Requirements, Window, and Questions. The main application action stays at the bottom while you move between chapters. Share and any available form-management actions remain in the top page controls.
After you apply, follow the application from the application queue in Reading Desk. A submitted application is not the same as receiving a book; approval and delivery remain separate steps. Application and offer decisions open in clearly named dialogs, with full-height choices that remain comfortable to use on touch screens.
When catalogue information appears incomplete or duplicated, use the available correction or support path instead of creating multiple private copies just to work around it.