How to track Borrowed and Loaned Out books

Book Tracker allows you to keep track not only of the books you own, but also of the ones you borrow from others and the ones you lend out.

The app includes a dedicated Borrowed section alongside Library and Wishlist, and a Loaned Out feature inside each book’s detail page.

Borrowed section

The Borrowed section is one of the three main areas of the app, together with Library and Wishlist. It’s designed for books you don’t own but want to track in your reading history, such as those borrowed from friends or public libraries.

When adding a new book, you can choose to place it in:

  • Library → for books you own.
  • Wishlist → for books you’d like to buy or read in the future.
  • Borrowed → for books you don’t own but currently have in your hands.

Books in Borrowed work exactly like those in your Library:

  • You can assign a Reading Status.
  • Track progress with pages, time, or percentage.
  • Add notes and quotes.
  • See them included in your statistics.

This ensures that even books you don’t own are part of your reading journey.

Loaned Out feature

The Loaned Out feature helps you track books you own but have lent to someone else.

How to create a loan

  1. Open the book detail page of a book you own.
  2. Scroll down to the Loaned Out section.
  3. Tap + Add Loan.
  4. Select the contact to whom you lent the book.
    • You can create a new contact if it’s not already in the list.
  5. Enter the start date of the loan.
    • If you only set a start date, the loan is considered active.
  6. Optionally, add an end date when the book is returned.

Viewing active loans

  • On the home page (or the sidebar on iPad and Mac), go to the Loaned Out section.
  • You’ll see a list of contacts.
  • Tap a contact to view all the books currently loaned to them.
  • Only active loans are displayed in this list.

Ending a loan

When the book is returned:

  1. Open the book detail page.
  2. Scroll to the Loaned Out section.
  3. Tap End loan.
  4. The book will disappear from the active loans list under that contact.

Why these tools are useful

  • Borrowed section → lets you track books you’ve borrowed, so your reading stats remain accurate even if you don’t own the book.
  • Loaned Out feature → ensures you never lose track of which books you lent, to whom, and since when.

Best practices

  • Use the Borrowed section whenever you want to include borrowed books in your reading challenge or statistics.
  • Always add a start date when creating a loan, so it’s clear when the book was given out.
  • Review the Loaned Out list regularly to check which books are still out and with whom.
  • Use the End loan option as soon as a book is returned to keep the list of active loans accurate.

✅ With Borrowed and Loaned Out, Book Tracker helps you maintain a complete record of your reading journey while keeping full control of your library, even when books move in and out of your shelves.