Sleep is the best medicine. And chances are, you’re not getting enough. Most of us could use more shut eye, whether it’s falling sleep faster or staying asleep longer. Chances are also good that if you’ve struggled with sleep, you’ve tried everything from melatonin to blue light blockers to cutting caffeine in an effort to get more.

Remember being a child when sleep came so easily? You’d drift off to the sound of lullaby music or a parent reading softly by your bedside. Is it possible to ever “sleep like a baby” again? While we can’t go back in time, there are ways to recreate those peaceful moments with the help of free audiobooks from your library on the Libby app.

Drift off with a bedtime story

One of the best methods for falling asleep is to stop thinking about falling asleep. Easier said than done, but these soothing stories can help your mind focus elsewhere, and put your body into a relaxed state needed for deep, restful sleep. Then, before you know it, here comes the Sandman...

🌙 Set a sleep timer for your audiobook on Libby to turn off automatically while you drift off.

Bedtime Stories for Stressed Adults by Mindfulness Habits Team

Who said bedtime stories are just for kids? There’s a reason psychologists and child experts suggest reading a bedtime story to kids to help them sleep. Listening to a soothing, relaxing and fun story before you close your eyes can help you unwind faster and enjoy deeper sleep. Developed by the experts at the Mindfulness Habits Team, these bedtime stories for adults will help you develop a healthy sleep habit and enable you unwind and relax after a long day at work, reduce stress-related issues that keep you up at night and help you fall asleep faster, enjoy deep, uninterrupted sleep and wake up refreshed every morning.

Nothing Much Happens by Kathryn Nicolai

Busy minds need a place to rest. Whether you find yourself struggling to sleep, awake in the middle of the night or even just anxious as you move through the day, Kathryn Nicolai offers a healthy way to ease the mind before bed: through the timeless appeal of classic bedtime stories. Already beloved by millions of podcast listeners, the stories explore and expose small sweet moments of joy and relaxation: Sneaking lilacs from an abandoned farm in the spring, watching fireflies from the deck in the summer, visiting the local cider mill in the autumn and watching the tree lighting in the park with friends in the winter. You’ll also find 16 new stories never before featured on the podcast.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” asked the mole.
“Kind,” said the boy.

Charlie Mackesy offers inspiration and hope in uncertain times in this beautiful audiobook, following the tale of a curious boy, a greedy mole, a wary fox and a wise horse who find themselves together in sometimes difficult terrain, sharing their greatest fears and biggest discoveries about vulnerability, kindness, hope, friendship and love. The shared adventures and important conversations between the four friends are full of life lessons that have connected with readers of all ages.

Relaxing Sound of Ocean Waves by Greg Cetus

Recorded on locations around the Mediterranean Sea, this audio production aids in creating harmonious ambiance for preparation, meditation, relaxation and yoga practice.

Improve your sleep hygiene

We know sleep is important for good health, but why is it so elusive for many? Using decades of research, these books explore the science and the art of sleep from neurologists, clinicians and sleep experts that offer evidence-based interventions for getting more zzz’s.

Hello Sleep by Jade Wu

For many people who have trouble sleeping, each night is an anxious odyssey where getting a good night’s sleep feels like a battle to win rather than a basic biologic process. This is a guide for people with insomnia to help them shift their relationship with sleep, so that it stops being a battle and starts being enjoyable and natural again. It is a practical, self-guided tour through evidence-based interventions for chronic insomnia, including cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), phototherapy, chronotherapy, mindfulness-based approaches and medication tapering.

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

Preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshalling his decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood and energy levels, regulate hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes, slow the effects of aging and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night’s sleep every night.

The Sleep Revolution by W. Chris Winter, MD

Drawing on his 24 years of experience within the field, neurologist and sleep expert W. Chris Winter will help you:

🐑 Understand how sleep works and the ways in which food, light and other activities act to help or hurt the process

🐑 Learn why sleeping pills are so often misunderstood and used incorrectly and how you can achieve your best sleep without them

🐑 Incorporate sleep and napping into your life whether you are a shift worker, student or overcommitted parent

🐑 Think outside the box to better understand ways to treat a multitude of conditions from insomnia to sleep apnea to restless leg syndrome and circadian sleep disorders

🐑 Wade through the ever-changing sea of sleep technology and understand its value as it relates to your own sleep struggles

The Sleep Fix by Diane Macedo

From renowned ABC News anchor/correspondent and former insomniac Diane Macedo, comes a practical, user-friendly guide to getting better sleep. The Sleep Fix flips the switch on common advice, illuminating the reporter’s relentless search for how to get a good night’s sleep and the surprising, scientific and practical solutions she found along the way. Offering expert wisdom, cutting-edge research, intimate sleep stories from public figures and actionable advice, this is the tell-it-like-it-is guide the sleep-deprived world has been waiting for.

Trick Yourself to Sleep by Kim Jones

Poor sleep can wreak havoc on our waking lives, leaving us irritable and unwell. But in that moment when staring at the ceiling, counting sheep, worried that sleep may never come...what can we do? Packed with simple-to-follow tips and creative tricks for falling and staying asleep, this book is sure to help anyone sleep soundly.

Sleep meditations for relaxation

In our busy, jam-packed schedules, we rarely have a moment to rest and just be. Learn how to quiet your body and mind, let go of the day’s worries and calm the internal chatter with a radically compassionate plan for deep healing and guided sleep recordings.

Lighter by Yung Pueblo

Yung Pueblo demonstrates how we can all move forward in our healing, from learning self-compassion to letting go to becoming emotionally mature. As the heaviness falls away, our minds will finally stop feeling overburdened with tension and we’ll be able to reconnect with the present. And the world around us will hopefully become more inviting in crisp and newly vibrant ways. As we grow stronger and expand our self-awareness, it’s our responsibility to take actions to support the health and harmony of all people. The final section of Lighter shows how we can and must contribute to building a world that is no longer structurally harmful but, instead, structurally compassionate.

Sleep Easily Meditation by Shazzy Love

Relax into Shazzie’s soothing words and let go fully into a deeply relaxing sleep. During this 36-minute recording, you’ll be gently guided every step of the way to relax your whole body and mind. This meditation will leave you refreshed, renewed and resonating so much more from your heart and a place of stillness. From there, you’ll be able to attract towards you everything your heart desires, without your head getting in the way.

Sleep Well by Sue Fuller

Sleep is vital for health and well-being. Sleep Well contains six different guided audio practices that have been devised specifically to help relax both body and mind and encourage restful sleep so that you wake feeling refreshed, recharged and rejuvenated.

Meditations for Sleep by Sue Fuller

This audiobook contains two 30-minute guided meditation sessions created to help relax and clear the mind so that it’s possible to effortlessly fall asleep night after night. Each session has been created to calm the internal chatter of the mind and promote the production of sleep hormones that make falling asleep so much easier. Each session is followed whilst sitting on, and then laying in your bed. This makes it easier to move into a state of deep relaxation from which the natural transition into sleep can occur. The sessions include subtle relaxing background music that will further encourage a calm state of mind.

*Title availability may vary by region.

Wishing you good reading and good rest. 😴