28 June 2026 · Book Assembly Team · 4 min read
LibraryThing is the third import source in Book Assembly, joining Goodreads and StoryGraph. If you've been cataloguing your collection on LibraryThing and want to bring it across, you now can.
LibraryThing exports as JSON rather than CSV (unlike Goodreads and StoryGraph). To get your file:
The import runs in the background (same as Goodreads and StoryGraph imports), so you can close the page and get on with things. You'll get an email when it's done.
LibraryThing users tend to be thorough cataloguers, so there's a lot of data to bring over. The import handles:
Books, authors, and ISBNs. The basics. LibraryThing's author data is generally clean, but where the same author appears with slightly different spacing or punctuation within your file (say "James S. A. Corey" and "James S.A. Corey"), the import normalises them to a single consistent spelling. This applies across all three import sources now, not just LibraryThing.
Ratings. LibraryThing supports half-star ratings, same as Book Assembly, so your 3.5 stays a 3.5. No rounding needed (unlike StoryGraph, where quarter-star values get rounded to the nearest half).
Reviews. Your review text comes straight across.
Comments and notes. LibraryThing has both "Comments" (public) and "Private Comments" on each book. Both are imported into Book Assembly's notes field, clearly labelled so you can tell which was which. If you had both on the same book, they're combined with a separator.
Reading status and dates. Books marked as "currently reading", "to read", or finished come across with the right status. Finished books bring their completion date. If you've read a book multiple times, each read is preserved with its own date.
Tags and collections. LibraryThing tags and custom collections both map to Book Assembly lists. The import wizard has a mapping step (same as the shelf-mapping step for Goodreads and StoryGraph) where you choose what to do with each tag and collection: skip it, create a new list, or map it to an existing list in your library.
Genres. Your LibraryThing genres are matched against your existing Book Assembly genres. If a genre doesn't exist yet, it's created automatically. Each book gets its genres attached just as they were on LibraryThing.
Ownership. If a book is marked as owned on LibraryThing, it gets the "Owned" status in Book Assembly.
Format. Hardcover, paperback, and other format values come across and are mapped to Book Assembly's format options.
Page count and publisher. Both are imported where available. This is an advantage over StoryGraph imports, which don't include either of these fields in their export.
Series. LibraryThing tracks series information, but the export format makes it tricky to map reliably. This is on the list to add. For now, you can group books into series yourself after importing.
Library cataloguing data. Dewey Decimal numbers, Library of Congress classifications, and similar cataloguing metadata aren't imported. These are specific to LibraryThing's library-science roots and don't have an equivalent in Book Assembly.
Moods, pace, and content warnings. LibraryThing doesn't track these, so there's nothing to bring across. You can add them manually after import if you like.
Same as the other import sources: the import fetches cover images automatically in the background after your books are added. It checks ISBNdb first for higher quality images, with Open Library as a fallback. You can toggle cover fetching off before importing if you'd rather add covers yourself later.
The import preview flags duplicates both within your export file and against books already in your library. If you've previously imported from Goodreads or StoryGraph and some of the same books exist on LibraryThing, they'll be caught before anything is added. Matching uses ISBN first, then title and author as a fallback.
LibraryThing has a smaller but dedicated user base. Its users tend to be serious about their cataloguing, often with larger and more meticulously organised libraries than you'd typically see on Goodreads or StoryGraph. Supporting LibraryThing means Book Assembly can now import from the three platforms that cover the vast majority of personal book cataloguing.
If you're on a platform we don't support yet, let us know. The import infrastructure is designed to make adding new sources straightforward.
Head to Dashboard, then Data, and choose Import from LibraryThing. There's a step-by-step guide in the help centre if you need it.
