# Open Library API

> 3 public methods for Open Library (openlibrary.org), each 1 credit per completed run.

Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Open Library.

- Page: https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org

## Methods

### [Search books](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/search-books.md)

`openlibrary.org/search_books`, read. Finds Open Library books by search words, optionally narrowed by author and subject, sorted by relevance or publication age. Returns work-level results; free_online means at least one edition is marked public or borrowable, not that a loan is available now.

Returns: title, authors, first publication year, edition count, ISBNs, languages, cover image, free online flag, Open Library URL

### [List books by author](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/list-author-books.md)

`openlibrary.org/list_author_books`, read. Finds an Open Library author by name, link or key and lists their works with first publication year, edition count, cover and an author profile.

Returns: author profile (name, dates, biography, photo), total works, and books (title, first year, editions, cover, link)

### [Get book details](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/get-book.md)

`openlibrary.org/get_book`, read. Gets a book's catalog details from Open Library by its title, with an optional author or ISBN to identify the right book. Reading availability reflects listed editions; details may be missing when the catalog has none.

Returns: title, subtitle, authors, first published year, description, subjects, pages, editions, rating, reading availability, cover, link