ISBN lookup in library catalogues
Enter an ISBN and see what national and university libraries in Europe and the US know about the book — title, author, publisher, year of publication. Free, no sign-up.
Example: 9780140449136
Got more books at home?
In Libella you scan the ISBN with your phone and the details from these libraries fill in on their own — even for old books without an ISBN.
Try Libella for freeHow it works
- Enter the ISBN from the cover or copyright page — 10 or 13 digits, with or without hyphens. Old 9-digit SBNs work too.
- We check the check digit straight away and show both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13.
- Based on the ISBN group we ask the libraries where the book is most likely to be, one after another, until one finds it — and show its record.
Which libraries we search
National, university and union catalogues. The data comes straight from the libraries, not from bookshops.
- USLibrary of Congress Washington
- FRBnF Bibliothèque nationale de France
- DEDNB Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
- GBBodleian University of Oxford
- ESBNE Biblioteca Nacional de España
- ITOPAC SBN Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale
- NLKoninklijke Bibliotheek Nederlandse Bibliografie
- DEK10plus Verbundkatalog GBV & SWB
- CHSLSP Swiss Library Service Platform
- ATOBVSG Österreichischer Bibliothekenverbund
- PLBN Biblioteka Narodowa
- DKKB Det Kgl. Bibliotek
- SELIBRIS Kungliga biblioteket
- NONB Nasjonalbiblioteket
- FIMelinda Kansalliskirjasto (Fennica)
- PTPORBASE Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal
- GRNLG Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος
- BEUniCat Catalogue collectif belge
- LUbibnet.lu Réseau des bibliothèques luxembourgeoises
- HUOSZK Országos Széchényi Könyvtár
- CZNK ČR Národní knihovna ČR
- SKSNK Slovenská národná knižnica
- ROBCU Cluj Biblioteca Centrală Universitară Lucian Blaga
- EEESTER Eesti teadusraamatukogud
FAQ
What is an ISBN and what is the check digit?
An ISBN is the international number of a book — 13 digits since 2007, 10 before that. The last digit is a check digit calculated from the others, so a typo can be spotted immediately. The lookup verifies it before asking any library and, if it is wrong, shows what the ISBN would be with the correct check digit.
How do I convert an ISBN-10 to an ISBN-13?
Put 978 in front of the 10-digit ISBN and recalculate the check digit — the lookup shows both forms. Enter an old 9-digit SBN as it is; we add the leading zero. An ISBN-13 starting with 979 has no 10-digit form.
Which libraries do you ask?
Based on the ISBN group we pick up to five catalogues where the book is most likely to be and ask them one by one until one finds it — for 978-0 and 978-1 the Library of Congress and the Bodleian, for 978-3 the German, Austrian and Swiss catalogues, and so on. One at a time, so we don't put unnecessary load on the libraries.
Why didn't a library find the book?
National libraries mainly record books published in their own country, and some records have no ISBN. "Library not responding" means a temporary outage — try again in a moment.
The book has no ISBN — can I still find it?
Books published before about 1970 usually have no ISBN. In the Libella app you can find them by title, author and year, or by photographing the copyright page — the app asks the same libraries.
Is it free?
Yes, with no sign-up. To avoid overloading the libraries, one device can search up to 30 times an hour.