Managing transfer to device for 2 people

maddz · 03-16-2026, 10:21 AM

My partner and I both have Kobos and we both use separate Calibre instances for our library management. My instance is used as the master copy for logging books on LibraryThing. Both instances are in the shared drive of an iMac; I'd like to be able to have a single instance because of free disc space (as in lack of).

What's the best way to manage Calibre so we each have a library to export? He'd rather not have to trawl through my Calibre and ignore my Regency romances, I'd rather not have to trawl through his Calibre and ignore his horror novels...

I have my instance set up with a Send/Do not send tag in a specific column; would expanding the selection there do what we want? Send is all epubs and small PDFs, Do not send is omnibuses that have been split into single books and large PDFs and comix.

Sirtel · 03-16-2026, 10:28 AM

Virtual libraries?

I take it you meant you'd rather not have two separate physical libraries?

DNSB · 03-16-2026, 08:41 PM

One couple I know uses 3 virtual libraries (one for books they both read and two for books only one of them will read). Basically, there is a column in the library that is has 3 tags (both, his, hers). No selection gets the the whole library, the other three are pretty obvious. See Virtual libraries on calibre's web site for more information.

Sirtel · 03-16-2026, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

One couple I know uses 3 virtual libraries (one for books they both read and two for books only one of them will read). Basically, there is a column in the library that is has 3 tags (both, his, hers). No selection gets the the whole library, the other three are pretty obvious. See Virtual libraries on calibre's web site for more information.

I would think three libraries are redundant, as a book can be in several virtual libraries - it can be tagged as his and hers both and be in both of their libraries.

DNSB · 03-16-2026, 10:04 PM

That was my original suggestion but I was outvoted on claiming that hers∧his was equivalent to both.

ekbell · 03-17-2026, 12:10 PM

My husband has solved this problem by only looking at what I've bothered to stick on his kindle. For the most part this means he gets the subset of books we both like but he doesn't have to pick through my cozies and old fiction.

However, virtual libraries plus separate user accounts worked well for me when my children were young enough to find most adult books boring. I could keep everything in one library and no one had to browse through hundreds of books written for a different age group.

maddz · 03-17-2026, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Virtual libraries?

I take it you meant you'd rather not have two separate physical libraries?

Yes, this. He doesn't want to see my Regency romances (any romances really) and I'm not really interested in his hard SF.

However, at the moment I use a SEND/DO NOT SEND tag to identify the books I want to send to my Kobo; will this work in conjunction with a virtual library? Or should I just make a virtual library each?

Sirtel · 03-17-2026, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddz

Yes, this. He doesn't want to see my Regency romances (any romances really) and I'm not really interested in his hard SF.

However, at the moment I use a SEND/DO NOT SEND tag to identify the books I want to send to my Kobo; will this work in conjunction with a virtual library? Or should I just make a virtual library each?

I'd create a virtual library for each, based on a tag. But as is often the case with calibre, there are several ways to do something. You could create virtual libraries based on the same send/do not send tag. Or you could save a search based on that tag, which would be a quick way to flip the view on or off.

maddz · 03-17-2026, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I'd create a virtual library for each, based on a tag. But as is often the case with calibre, there are several ways to do something. You could create virtual libraries based on the same send/do not send tag. Or you could save a search based on that tag, which would be a quick way to flip the view on or off.

A saved search on SEND is what I use to send to my Kobo.

OK, thanks for your help, guys, I'll have a play when I'm back from holiday. The main issue is going to be identifying his books. I can see my Calibre being open and his library being open in Finder... Tedious, especially as that Mac is on the desk he uses when he W@H and he's at home on my regular non-working day...

theducks · 03-17-2026, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddz

A saved search on SEND is what I use to send to my Kobo.

OK, thanks for your help, guys, I'll have a play when I'm back from holiday. The main issue is going to be identifying his books. I can see my Calibre being open and his library being open in Finder... Tedious, especially as that Mac is on the desk he uses when he W@H and he's at home on my regular non-working day...

That same search can be used as the template for VL's. (a VL is just a portal view of the full library). set THEM so either value missing, both VL's show those

JSWolf · Today, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddz

Yes, this. He doesn't want to see my Regency romances (any romances really) and I'm not really interested in his hard SF.

However, at the moment I use a SEND/DO NOT SEND tag to identify the books I want to send to my Kobo; will this work in conjunction with a virtual library? Or should I just make a virtual library each?

You can forget SEND/DO NOT SEND. It's a lot easier to use the Reading List plugin to mark which books I want to send to my Kobo. Then when I plug in my LIbra 2 to my library, it automatically sends the books to my Kobo and when it's done it unmarks the books.

Also, I have a column to show which books are on my Kobo. This gets automatically populates by the Reading List plugin. When you send books to your Kobo, you'll need to reconnect to your library a second time to get the column showing they are on your Kobo populated.

Sirtel · Today, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You can forget SEND/DO NOT SEND. It's a lot easier to use the Reading List plugin to mark which books I want to send to my Kobo. Then when I plug in my LIbra 2 to my library, it automatically sends the books to my Kobo and when it's done it unmarks the books.

Also, I have a column to show which books are on my Kobo. This gets automatically populates by the Reading List plugin. When you send books to your Kobo, you'll need to reconnect to your library a second time to get the column showing they are on your Kobo populated.

Personally I don't want any auto-sending, so I don't use the Reading List plugin. I use tags for this purpose.

03-16-2026, 10:21 AM	#1
maddz Wizard Posts: 1,473 Karma: 30087146 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: UK Device: Kobo Forma, Icarus, iPad Mini 2, Kobo Touch, Google Nexus 7	Managing transfer to device for 2 people My partner and I both have Kobos and we both use separate Calibre instances for our library management. My instance is used as the master copy for logging books on LibraryThing. Both instances are in the shared drive of an iMac; I'd like to be able to have a single instance because of free disc space (as in lack of). What's the best way to manage Calibre so we each have a library to export? He'd rather not have to trawl through my Calibre and ignore my Regency romances, I'd rather not have to trawl through his Calibre and ignore his horror novels... I have my instance set up with a Send/Do not send tag in a specific column; would expanding the selection there do what we want? Send is all epubs and small PDFs, Do not send is omnibuses that have been split into single books and large PDFs and comix.

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03-16-2026, 10:28 AM	#2
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 14,852 Karma: 245111335 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	Virtual libraries? I take it you meant you'd rather not have two separate physical libraries?

03-16-2026, 08:41 PM	#3
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 50,777 Karma: 178402710 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	One couple I know uses 3 virtual libraries (one for books they both read and two for books only one of them will read). Basically, there is a column in the library that is has 3 tags (both, his, hers). No selection gets the the whole library, the other three are pretty obvious. See Virtual libraries on calibre's web site for more information.

03-16-2026, 10:04 PM	#5
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 50,777 Karma: 178402710 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	That was my original suggestion but I was outvoted on claiming that hers∧his was equivalent to both.

03-17-2026, 12:10 PM	#6
ekbell Guru Posts: 640 Karma: 12345678 Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Canada Device: none	My husband has solved this problem by only looking at what I've bothered to stick on his kindle. For the most part this means he gets the subset of books we both like but he doesn't have to pick through my cozies and old fiction. However, virtual libraries plus separate user accounts worked well for me when my children were young enough to find most adult books boring. I could keep everything in one library and no one had to browse through hundreds of books written for a different age group.

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