diff --git a/src/hooks/useLibraryPublications.ts b/src/hooks/useLibraryPublications.ts
index 37258d3e..e5999d94 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useLibraryPublications.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useLibraryPublications.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import { useFavoriteRelays } from '@/providers/FavoriteRelaysProvider'
 import { useNostr } from '@/providers/NostrProvider'
 import type { Event } from 'nostr-tools'
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react'
+import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next'
 
 const SEARCH_DEBOUNCE_MS = 300
 const RELAY_SEARCH_TIMEOUT_MS = 30_000
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ const EMPTY_ENGAGEMENT: PublicationEngagementMaps = {
 const EMPTY_BOOKLIST_TARGETS = { addresses: new Set<string>(), eventIds: new Set<string>() }
 
 export function useLibraryPublications(isActive: boolean) {
+  const { t } = useTranslation()
   const { pubkey, bookmarkListEvent } = useNostr()
   const { favoriteRelays, blockedRelays } = useFavoriteRelays()
   const [entries, setEntries] = useState<LibraryPublicationEntry[]>([])
@@ -374,14 +376,22 @@ export function useLibraryPublications(isActive: boolean) {
       setSearchResults(entries)
     } catch (e) {
       const message = e instanceof Error ? e.message : 'Relay search failed'
-      setError(message)
+      const local = await searchLibraryPublications(q, { indexEvents, engagement }, searchAxis)
+      if (local.length > 0) {
+        setSearchResults(local)
+        setError(null)
+      } else {
+        setError(
+          message === 'Relay search timed out' ? t('Library relay search timed out') : message
+        )
+      }
       if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
-        logger.warn('[Library] relay search failed', { message })
+        logger.warn('[Library] relay search failed', { message, localFallback: local.length })
       }
     } finally {
       setRelaySearchLoading(false)
     }
-  }, [searchQuery, searchAxis, pubkey, indexEvents, engagement, blockedRelays])
+  }, [searchQuery, searchAxis, pubkey, indexEvents, engagement, blockedRelays, t])
 
   const mineFilterOpts = useMemo(
     () => ({
diff --git a/src/i18n/locales/de.ts b/src/i18n/locales/de.ts
index 25629052..a2256c6b 100644
--- a/src/i18n/locales/de.ts
+++ b/src/i18n/locales/de.ts
@@ -1658,6 +1658,7 @@ export default {
     'Library search scope author': 'Suche nach Autor',
     'Library search scope dtag': 'Suche nach d-Tag',
     'Library search commit hint': 'Enter drücken oder einen Suchtyp auswählen',
+    'Library relay search timed out': 'Relay-Suche abgelaufen. Treffer aus dem lokalen Bibliotheks-Cache werden angezeigt, sofern vorhanden.',
     'Library show only my publications': 'Meine Publikationen',
     'Library empty': 'Noch keine Publikationen auf deinen Relays gefunden.',
     'Library empty filtered': 'Keine Publikationen entsprechen den Filtern.',
diff --git a/src/i18n/locales/en.ts b/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
index 63b0f291..9b256a1d 100644
--- a/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
+++ b/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
@@ -1681,6 +1681,7 @@ export default {
     'Library search scope author': 'Searching by author',
     'Library search scope dtag': 'Searching by d-tag',
     'Library search commit hint': 'Press Enter or choose a search type below',
+    'Library relay search timed out': 'Relay search timed out. Showing matches from your local library cache when available.',
     'Library show only my publications': 'My publications',
     'Library empty': 'No publications found on your relays yet.',
     'Library empty filtered': 'No publications match your filters.',
diff --git a/src/lib/library-publication-index.test.ts b/src/lib/library-publication-index.test.ts
index 296114d9..f13de94c 100644
--- a/src/lib/library-publication-index.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/library-publication-index.test.ts
@@ -282,7 +282,24 @@ describe('library-publication-index', () => {
     expect(byAuthor).toHaveLength(1)
 
     expect(filterEventsForPublicationRelaySearchAxis([root], 'title', 'charlotte')).toHaveLength(0)
+    expect(filterEventsForPublicationRelaySearchAxis([root], 'author', 'charlotte')).toHaveLength(1)
     expect(publicationMetadataTagMatchesQuery(root, 'title', 'Jane Eyre')).toBe(true)
+    expect(publicationMetadataTagMatchesQuery(root, 'author', 'Brontë')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('author and title axes match partial metadata text but d-tag stays exact', () => {
+    const root = indexEvent('faust', [`30041:${PK}:intro`])
+    root.tags = [
+      ['d', 'faust-part-one'],
+      ['title', 'Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil'],
+      ['author', 'Johann Wolfgang von Goethe'],
+      ['a', `30041:${PK}:intro`]
+    ]
+
+    expect(publicationMetadataTagMatchesQuery(root, 'author', 'goethe')).toBe(true)
+    expect(publicationMetadataTagMatchesQuery(root, 'title', 'tragödie')).toBe(true)
+    expect(publicationMetadataTagMatchesQuery(root, 'd', 'faust')).toBe(false)
+    expect(publicationMetadataTagMatchesQuery(root, 'd', 'faust-part-one')).toBe(true)
   })
 
   it('searchLibraryPublications respects author axis and keeps separate cache keys', async () => {
diff --git a/src/lib/library-publication-index.ts b/src/lib/library-publication-index.ts
index dcde1441..dbbdbb7e 100644
--- a/src/lib/library-publication-index.ts
+++ b/src/lib/library-publication-index.ts
@@ -1857,7 +1857,7 @@ export function publicationQueryDTagVariants(query: string): string[] {
   return [...seen]
 }
 
-/** Normalized needles for exact publication metadata tag match (d / title / author). */
+/** Normalized needles for publication metadata tag match (d / title / author). */
 export function publicationQueryNeedles(query: string): string[] {
   const raw = normalizeGeneralSearchQuery(query.trim())
   if (!raw) return []
@@ -1870,13 +1870,19 @@ export function publicationQueryNeedles(query: string): string[] {
   return [...new Set([lower, normalized, hyphen].filter(Boolean))]
 }
 
-function publicationTagValueMatchesNeedles(tagValue: string, needles: string[]): boolean {
+function publicationTagValueMatchesNeedles(
+  tagValue: string,
+  needles: string[],
+  exactOnly: boolean
+): boolean {
   const val = tagValue.trim().toLowerCase()
   const valSpaced = val.replace(/-/g, ' ').replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim()
   for (const needle of needles) {
-    if (val === needle) return true
+    if (!needle) continue
     const needleSpaced = needle.replace(/-/g, ' ').replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim()
-    if (valSpaced === needleSpaced) return true
+    if (val === needle || valSpaced === needleSpaced) return true
+    if (exactOnly || needle.length < 2) continue
+    if (val.includes(needle) || valSpaced.includes(needleSpaced)) return true
   }
   return false
 }
@@ -1888,10 +1894,11 @@ export function publicationMetadataTagMatchesQuery(
 ): boolean {
   const needles = publicationQueryNeedles(query)
   if (needles.length === 0) return false
+  const exactOnly = tagName === 'd'
   for (const tag of event.tags ?? []) {
     if ((tag[0] || '').toLowerCase() !== tagName) continue
     const value = tag[1]?.trim()
-    if (value && publicationTagValueMatchesNeedles(value, needles)) return true
+    if (value && publicationTagValueMatchesNeedles(value, needles, exactOnly)) return true
   }
   return false
 }