@
amagrace - when you 'update' an existing Calibre Portable the only sub folder that gets changed is the Calibre folder, the Calibre Library, Calibre Settings, and any user created libraries are left as is
Here's one I just updated from 3.18 to 3.32 - the Empty library was pre-existing - look at the folder modified dates
But if you must have your libraries outside the Calibre Portable directory, create symlinks to them within Calibre Portable folder
BR