diff --git a/src/hooks/useLibraryPublications.ts b/src/hooks/useLibraryPublications.ts
index 2cfd782b..c932e5c7 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useLibraryPublications.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useLibraryPublications.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { useNostr } from '@/providers/NostrProvider'
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react'
 
 const SEARCH_DEBOUNCE_MS = 300
-const LOAD_TIMEOUT_MS = 90_000
+const LOAD_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000
 
 export function useLibraryPublications(isActive: boolean) {
   const { pubkey } = useNostr()
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@ export function useLibraryPublications(isActive: boolean) {
   const [debouncedSearch, setDebouncedSearch] = useState('')
   const [showOnlyMine, setShowOnlyMine] = useState(false)
   const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false)
+  const [engagementLoading, setEngagementLoading] = useState(false)
   const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null)
   const [allIndexCount, setAllIndexCount] = useState(0)
   const [topLevelCount, setTopLevelCount] = useState(0)
   const loadGenRef = useRef(0)
-  const inFlightRef = useRef(0)
 
   useEffect(() => {
     const t = window.setTimeout(() => setDebouncedSearch(searchQuery), SEARCH_DEBOUNCE_MS)
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ export function useLibraryPublications(isActive: boolean) {
   const load = useCallback(
     async (forceRefresh = false) => {
       const gen = ++loadGenRef.current
-      inFlightRef.current += 1
       setLoading(true)
+      setEngagementLoading(false)
       setError(null)
       if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
         logger.info('[Library] page load requested', { forceRefresh, gen })
@@ -48,7 +48,17 @@ export function useLibraryPublications(isActive: boolean) {
         })
         try {
           const result = await Promise.race([
-            loadLibraryPublicationIndex(relays, { forceRefresh }),
+            loadLibraryPublicationIndex(relays, {
+              forceRefresh,
+              onIndexesReady: (snapshot) => {
+                if (gen !== loadGenRef.current) return
+                setEntries(snapshot.engaged)
+                setAllIndexCount(snapshot.allIndexCount)
+                setTopLevelCount(snapshot.topLevelCount)
+                setLoading(false)
+                setEngagementLoading(true)
+              }
+            }),
             timeoutPromise
           ])
           if (gen !== loadGenRef.current) return
@@ -66,9 +76,9 @@ export function useLibraryPublications(isActive: boolean) {
           logger.warn('[Library] page load failed', { message, gen })
         }
       } finally {
-        inFlightRef.current = Math.max(0, inFlightRef.current - 1)
-        if (inFlightRef.current === 0) {
+        if (gen === loadGenRef.current) {
           setLoading(false)
+          setEngagementLoading(false)
         }
       }
     },
@@ -102,6 +112,7 @@ export function useLibraryPublications(isActive: boolean) {
     showOnlyMine,
     setShowOnlyMine,
     loading,
+    engagementLoading,
     error,
     allIndexCount,
     topLevelCount,
diff --git a/src/i18n/locales/de.ts b/src/i18n/locales/de.ts
index 2d9f7a96..43f690b2 100644
--- a/src/i18n/locales/de.ts
+++ b/src/i18n/locales/de.ts
@@ -1654,6 +1654,7 @@ export default {
     'Library empty': 'Noch keine Publikationen auf deinen Relays gefunden.',
     'Library empty filtered': 'Keine Publikationen entsprechen den Filtern.',
     'Library loading': 'Publikationen werden von Dokument-Relays geladen…',
+    'Library engagement loading': 'Engagement-Filter werden aktualisiert…',
     'Library status line': '{{shown}} angezeigt · {{topLevel}} Top-Level · {{total}} Indizes geladen',
     'Library badge label': 'Label',
     'Library badge comment': 'Kommentar',
diff --git a/src/i18n/locales/en.ts b/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
index b78e33e9..12081952 100644
--- a/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
+++ b/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
@@ -1677,6 +1677,7 @@ export default {
     'Library empty': 'No publications found on your relays yet.',
     'Library empty filtered': 'No publications match your filters.',
     'Library loading': 'Loading publications from document relays…',
+    'Library engagement loading': 'Updating engagement filters…',
     'Library status line': '{{shown}} shown · {{topLevel}} top-level · {{total}} indexes loaded',
     'Library badge label': 'Label',
     'Library badge comment': 'Comment',
diff --git a/src/lib/index-relay-http.test.ts b/src/lib/index-relay-http.test.ts
index 66765100..4ec9a090 100644
--- a/src/lib/index-relay-http.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/index-relay-http.test.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ import {
   IndexRelayTransportError,
   clearDevIndexRelayUnavailableThisSession,
   isDevIndexRelayUnavailableThisSession,
-  isIndexRelayTransportFailure
+  isIndexRelayTransportFailure,
+  rawToIndexRelayEvent
 } from '@/lib/index-relay-http'
+import { finalizeEvent, generateSecretKey, getPublicKey } from 'nostr-tools'
 import { describe, expect, it, beforeEach } from 'vitest'
 
 describe('isIndexRelayTransportFailure', () => {
@@ -26,3 +28,27 @@ describe('dev index relay session skip', () => {
     expect(isDevIndexRelayUnavailableThisSession()).toBe(false)
   })
 })
+
+describe('rawToIndexRelayEvent', () => {
+  it('accepts kind 30040 with empty or null content per NKBIP-01', () => {
+    const sk = generateSecretKey()
+    const pubkey = getPublicKey(sk)
+    const verified = finalizeEvent(
+      {
+        kind: 30040,
+        created_at: 1_700_000_000,
+        tags: [
+          ['d', 'book'],
+          ['title', 'Test Book'],
+          ['a', `30041:${pubkey}:chapter-1`]
+        ],
+        content: ''
+      },
+      sk
+    )
+    const mercuryRow = { ...verified, content: null } as unknown as Record<string, unknown>
+    const parsed = rawToIndexRelayEvent(mercuryRow)
+    expect(parsed?.content).toBe('')
+    expect(parsed?.kind).toBe(30040)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/lib/index-relay-http.ts b/src/lib/index-relay-http.ts
index 3c431aae..dfb3ec8a 100644
--- a/src/lib/index-relay-http.ts
+++ b/src/lib/index-relay-http.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
  * Known broken CORS HTTPS hosts (e.g. nos.lol) use `/dev-cors-index-relay` (see `vite.config.ts` + `url.ts`).
  * Production and other remote HTTPS relays still need CORS or your own reverse proxy.
  */
+import { ExtendedKind } from '@/constants'
 import { fetchWithTimeout } from '@/lib/fetch-with-timeout'
 import logger from '@/lib/logger'
 import {
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ import {
   normalizeHttpRelayUrl
 } from '@/lib/url'
 import type { Filter, Event as NEvent } from 'nostr-tools'
-import { verifyEvent } from 'nostr-tools'
+import { validateEvent, verifyEvent } from 'nostr-tools'
 
 function trimSlash(base: string): string {
   return base.replace(/\/+$/, '')
@@ -181,6 +182,14 @@ function handleFilterTransportFailure(endpoint: string, err?: unknown): void {
   })
 }
 
+/** NKBIP-01 kind 30040 indexes always have empty `content` (relays may JSON-encode that as `null`). */
+function normalizedIndexRelayContent(kind: number, contentRaw: unknown): string | null {
+  if (kind === ExtendedKind.PUBLICATION) return ''
+  if (typeof contentRaw === 'string') return contentRaw
+  if (contentRaw == null) return ''
+  return null
+}
+
 function rawToVerifiedEvent(raw: Record<string, unknown>): NEvent | null {
   try {
     const id = raw.id
@@ -200,8 +209,7 @@ function rawToVerifiedEvent(raw: Record<string, unknown>): NEvent | null {
     ) {
       return null
     }
-    const content =
-      typeof contentRaw === 'string' ? contentRaw : contentRaw == null ? '' : null
+    const content = normalizedIndexRelayContent(kind, contentRaw)
     if (content === null) return null
     const ev = { id, pubkey, created_at, kind, tags, content, sig } as NEvent
     return verifyEvent(ev) ? ev : null
@@ -210,6 +218,54 @@ function rawToVerifiedEvent(raw: Record<string, unknown>): NEvent | null {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Parse HTTP index relay rows for Library discovery. Kind 30040 content is always normalized to `''`.
+ * When verify fails (some index mirrors store stale id/sig), accept structurally valid 30040 rows.
+ */
+export function rawToIndexRelayEvent(raw: Record<string, unknown>): NEvent | null {
+  try {
+    const id = raw.id
+    const pubkey = raw.pubkey
+    const created_at = raw.created_at
+    const kind = raw.kind
+    const tags = raw.tags
+    const contentRaw = raw.content
+    const sig = raw.sig
+    if (
+      typeof id !== 'string' ||
+      typeof pubkey !== 'string' ||
+      typeof created_at !== 'number' ||
+      typeof kind !== 'number' ||
+      !Array.isArray(tags) ||
+      typeof sig !== 'string'
+    ) {
+      return null
+    }
+    const content = normalizedIndexRelayContent(kind, contentRaw)
+    if (content === null) return null
+    const ev = {
+      id: id.toLowerCase(),
+      pubkey: pubkey.toLowerCase(),
+      created_at,
+      kind,
+      tags,
+      content,
+      sig
+    } as NEvent
+    if (verifyEvent(ev)) return ev
+    if (kind === ExtendedKind.PUBLICATION && validateEvent(ev)) return ev
+    return null
+  } catch {
+    return null
+  }
+}
+
+export type TIndexRelayLibraryPage = {
+  events: NEvent[]
+  /** Rows returned by the relay before client-side filtering (drives pagination). */
+  apiRowCount: number
+}
+
 /**
  * Query one HTTP index relay. Runs one POST per filter when given an array.
  */
@@ -299,6 +355,68 @@ export async function queryIndexRelay(
   return out
 }
 
+/** Library discovery: paginate using {@link rawToIndexRelayEvent} and the relay's raw row count. */
+export async function queryIndexRelayForLibrary(
+  baseUrl: string,
+  filter: Filter,
+  options?: { signal?: AbortSignal }
+): Promise<TIndexRelayLibraryPage> {
+  const base = devHttpIndexRelayBaseForFetch(baseUrl)
+  const endpoint = indexRelayFilterUrl(base)
+  if (shouldSkipDevIndexRelayFetch(endpoint)) {
+    return { events: [], apiRowCount: 0 }
+  }
+
+  const body = nostrFilterToIndexRelayBody(filterForIndexRelay(filter))
+  try {
+    const res = await fetchWithTimeout(endpoint, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: {
+        Accept: 'application/json',
+        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
+      },
+      body: JSON.stringify(body),
+      signal: options?.signal,
+      timeoutMs: 25_000
+    })
+    if (!res.ok) {
+      if (res.status >= 500) {
+        markDevIndexRelayUnavailableFromHttpStatus(res.status, endpoint)
+        throw new IndexRelayTransportError(new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`))
+      }
+      return { events: [], apiRowCount: 0 }
+    }
+    clearDevIndexRelayUnavailableThisSession()
+    const json = (await res.json()) as { data?: unknown }
+    const data = json.data
+    if (!Array.isArray(data)) return { events: [], apiRowCount: 0 }
+
+    const events: NEvent[] = []
+    const seen = new Set<string>()
+    for (const item of data) {
+      if (!item || typeof item !== 'object') continue
+      const ev = rawToIndexRelayEvent(item as Record<string, unknown>)
+      if (ev && !seen.has(ev.id)) {
+        seen.add(ev.id)
+        events.push(ev)
+      }
+    }
+    return { events, apiRowCount: data.length }
+  } catch (e) {
+    if ((e as Error).name === 'AbortError') throw e
+    if (e instanceof IndexRelayTransportError) throw e
+    if (isIndexRelayTransportFailure(e)) {
+      handleFilterTransportFailure(endpoint, e)
+      throw new IndexRelayTransportError(e)
+    }
+    warnIndexRelayHttpThrottled(endpoint, '[IndexRelayHttp] library filter request error', {
+      endpoint,
+      error: e
+    })
+    return { events: [], apiRowCount: 0 }
+  }
+}
+
 function filterForIndexRelay(f: Filter): Filter {
   const rest = { ...f } as Filter & { search?: unknown }
   delete rest.search
diff --git a/src/lib/library-publication-index.ts b/src/lib/library-publication-index.ts
index 5c49e652..42d6e7e2 100644
--- a/src/lib/library-publication-index.ts
+++ b/src/lib/library-publication-index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { ExtendedKind, LIBRARY_RELAY_URLS } from '@/constants'
 import logger from '@/lib/logger'
-import { queryIndexRelay } from '@/lib/index-relay-http'
+import { queryIndexRelay, queryIndexRelayForLibrary } from '@/lib/index-relay-http'
 import {
   buildIndexByAddress,
   collectPublicationIndexEventIds,
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ const ENGAGEMENT_ADDRESS_CHUNK = 36
 const ENGAGEMENT_EVENT_ID_CHUNK = 44
 const MAX_TARGET_ADDRESSES = 480
 const HYDRATE_MISSING_CAP = 64
-export const LIBRARY_RECENT_FALLBACK_LIMIT = 10
+export const LIBRARY_RECENT_FALLBACK_LIMIT = 120
+const ENGAGEMENT_FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS = 25_000
 const QUERY_OPTS = {
   globalTimeout: 18_000,
   eoseTimeout: 3_000,
@@ -110,10 +111,25 @@ async function fetchPaginatedFromHttpIndexRelay(baseUrl: string, filter: Filter)
       limit: INDEX_HTTP_PAGE_LIMIT,
       ...(until != null ? { until } : {})
     }
-    const batch = await queryIndexRelay(baseUrl, pageFilter)
-    if (batch.length === 0) break
+    let batch: Event[] = []
+    let apiRowCount = 0
+    try {
+      const pageResult = await queryIndexRelayForLibrary(baseUrl, pageFilter)
+      batch = pageResult.events
+      apiRowCount = pageResult.apiRowCount
+    } catch (e) {
+      if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
+        logger.warn('[Library] HTTP index page failed', {
+          baseUrl,
+          page,
+          message: e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)
+        })
+      }
+      break
+    }
+    if (apiRowCount === 0) break
 
-    let oldest = batch[0].created_at
+    let oldest = batch[0]?.created_at ?? Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
     for (const ev of batch) {
       if (ev.created_at < oldest) oldest = ev.created_at
       if (seen.has(ev.id)) continue
@@ -121,7 +137,8 @@ async function fetchPaginatedFromHttpIndexRelay(baseUrl: string, filter: Filter)
       out.push(ev)
     }
 
-    if (batch.length < INDEX_HTTP_PAGE_LIMIT) break
+    if (apiRowCount < INDEX_HTTP_PAGE_LIMIT) break
+    if (oldest === Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER) break
     until = oldest - 1
   }
 
@@ -165,14 +182,25 @@ export async function fetchLibraryIndexEvents(relayUrls: string[]): Promise<Even
 
   const batches: Promise<Event[]>[] = []
   if (wsRelays.length > 0) {
-    batches.push(queryService.fetchEvents(wsRelays, [filter], QUERY_OPTS))
+    batches.push(
+      queryService.fetchEvents(wsRelays, [filter], QUERY_OPTS).catch((e) => {
+        if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
+          logger.warn('[Library] WS index fetch failed', {
+            message: e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)
+          })
+        }
+        return [] as Event[]
+      })
+    )
   }
   for (const httpRelay of httpRelays) {
     batches.push(fetchPaginatedFromHttpIndexRelay(httpRelay, filter))
   }
 
-  const networkMerged =
-    batches.length > 0 ? dedupeEventsById((await Promise.all(batches)).flat()) : []
+  const settled = await Promise.allSettled(batches)
+  const networkMerged = dedupeEventsById(
+    settled.flatMap((r) => (r.status === 'fulfilled' ? r.value : []))
+  )
   const merged = dedupeEventsById([...cached, ...networkMerged])
   const valid = filterValidIndexEvents(merged)
   void persistLibraryIndexCacheEvents(valid)
@@ -258,7 +286,8 @@ async function fetchHttpEngagementByAddresses(
 export async function fetchPublicationEngagementMaps(
   relayUrls: string[],
   targetAddresses: Set<string>,
-  targetEventIds: Set<string>
+  targetEventIds: Set<string>,
+  options?: { httpOnly?: boolean }
 ): Promise<PublicationEngagementMaps> {
   if (relayUrls.length === 0 || targetAddresses.size === 0) {
     return {
@@ -272,6 +301,7 @@ export async function fetchPublicationEngagementMaps(
   const addressChunks = chunkArray([...targetAddresses], ENGAGEMENT_ADDRESS_CHUNK)
   const eventIdChunks = chunkArray([...targetEventIds], ENGAGEMENT_EVENT_ID_CHUNK)
   const { wsRelays, httpRelays } = splitWsAndHttpRelays(relayUrls)
+  const useWs = !options?.httpOnly && wsRelays.length > 0
 
   const highlightFilters = addressChunks.map(
     (chunk): Filter => ({ kinds: [kinds.Highlights], '#a': chunk, limit: chunk.length * 12 })
@@ -287,24 +317,24 @@ export async function fetchPublicationEngagementMaps(
   )
 
   const highlightPromise = Promise.all([
-    wsRelays.length > 0 && highlightFilters.length > 0
+    useWs && highlightFilters.length > 0
       ? queryService.fetchEvents(wsRelays, highlightFilters, QUERY_OPTS)
       : Promise.resolve([] as Event[]),
     fetchHttpEngagementByAddresses(httpRelays, kinds.Highlights, '#a', addressChunks)
   ]).then(([scoped, bulk]) => dedupeEventsById([...scoped, ...bulk]))
 
   const labelPromise = Promise.all([
-    wsRelays.length > 0 && labelAddressFilters.length > 0
+    useWs && labelAddressFilters.length > 0
       ? queryService.fetchEvents(wsRelays, labelAddressFilters, QUERY_OPTS)
       : Promise.resolve([] as Event[]),
-    wsRelays.length > 0 && labelEventFilters.length > 0
+    useWs && labelEventFilters.length > 0
       ? queryService.fetchEvents(wsRelays, labelEventFilters, QUERY_OPTS)
       : Promise.resolve([] as Event[]),
     fetchHttpEngagementByAddresses(httpRelays, ExtendedKind.LABEL, '#a', addressChunks)
   ]).then(([byAddress, byEvent, bulk]) => dedupeEventsById([...byAddress, ...byEvent, ...bulk]))
 
   const commentPromise = Promise.all([
-    wsRelays.length > 0 && commentWsFilters.length > 0
+    useWs && commentWsFilters.length > 0
       ? queryService.fetchEvents(wsRelays, commentWsFilters, QUERY_OPTS)
       : Promise.resolve([] as Event[]),
     fetchHttpEngagementByAddresses(httpRelays, ExtendedKind.COMMENT, '#A', addressChunks)
@@ -513,7 +543,15 @@ async function buildEngagedFromCache(
 
 export async function loadLibraryPublicationIndex(
   relayUrls: string[],
-  options?: { forceRefresh?: boolean }
+  options?: {
+    forceRefresh?: boolean
+    /** Called as soon as kind-30040 indexes are loaded — before engagement (which can take minutes). */
+    onIndexesReady?: (snapshot: {
+      engaged: LibraryPublicationEntry[]
+      allIndexCount: number
+      topLevelCount: number
+    }) => void
+  }
 ): Promise<{
   engaged: LibraryPublicationEntry[]
   allIndexCount: number
@@ -547,7 +585,15 @@ export async function loadLibraryPublicationIndex(
   }
 
   const indexByAddress = buildIndexByAddress(indexEvents)
-  const topLevelForHydrate = getTopLevelIndexEvents(indexEvents)
+  let topLevel = getTopLevelIndexEvents(indexEvents)
+
+  options?.onIndexesReady?.({
+    engaged: buildRecentPublicationEntries(topLevel),
+    allIndexCount: indexEvents.length,
+    topLevelCount: topLevel.length
+  })
+
+  const topLevelForHydrate = topLevel
   await hydrateNestedIndexEvents(indexEvents, indexByAddress, relayUrls, {
     maxPasses: 1,
     maxMissingPerPass: HYDRATE_MISSING_CAP,
@@ -557,6 +603,7 @@ export async function loadLibraryPublicationIndex(
     logger.info('[Library] nested hydrate done', { indexCount: indexEvents.length })
   }
 
+  topLevel = getTopLevelIndexEvents(indexEvents)
   const targetAddresses = collectTargetAddressesFromIndexes(indexEvents, indexByAddress)
   const targetEventIds = collectPublicationIndexEventIds(indexEvents)
   if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
@@ -565,11 +612,39 @@ export async function loadLibraryPublicationIndex(
       targetEventIds: targetEventIds.size
     })
   }
-  const engagement = await fetchPublicationEngagementMaps(
-    relayUrls,
-    targetAddresses,
-    targetEventIds
-  )
+
+  let engagement: PublicationEngagementMaps
+  try {
+    engagement = await Promise.race([
+      fetchPublicationEngagementMaps(relayUrls, targetAddresses, targetEventIds, {
+        httpOnly: true
+      }),
+      new Promise<PublicationEngagementMaps>((resolve) => {
+        window.setTimeout(
+          () =>
+            resolve({
+              labelAddresses: new Set(),
+              labelEventIds: new Set(),
+              commentAddresses: new Set(),
+              highlightAddresses: new Set()
+            }),
+          ENGAGEMENT_FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS
+        )
+      })
+    ])
+  } catch (e) {
+    if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
+      logger.warn('[Library] engagement fetch failed', {
+        message: e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)
+      })
+    }
+    engagement = {
+      labelAddresses: new Set(),
+      labelEventIds: new Set(),
+      commentAddresses: new Set(),
+      highlightAddresses: new Set()
+    }
+  }
   if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
     logger.info('[Library] engagement maps built', {
       labels: engagement.labelAddresses.size + engagement.labelEventIds.size,
@@ -580,7 +655,6 @@ export async function loadLibraryPublicationIndex(
 
   sessionCache = { relayKey: key, indexEvents, indexByAddress, engagement }
 
-  const topLevel = getTopLevelIndexEvents(indexEvents)
   const engaged = pickLibraryPublicationEntries(topLevel, indexByAddress, engagement)
 
   if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
diff --git a/src/lib/publication-index.ts b/src/lib/publication-index.ts
index cd7deed1..c88eb13d 100644
--- a/src/lib/publication-index.ts
+++ b/src/lib/publication-index.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ export function eventTagAddress(event: Event): string | null {
 export function filterValidIndexEvents(events: Event[]): Event[] {
   return events.filter((event) => {
     if (event.kind !== ExtendedKind.PUBLICATION) return false
-    if (event.content != null && event.content.length > 0) return false
+    if ((event.content ?? '') !== '') return false
     const hasTitle = event.tags.some(
       (t) => (t[0] || '').trim().toLowerCase() === 'title' && t[1]
     )
diff --git a/src/pages/primary/LibraryPage/index.tsx b/src/pages/primary/LibraryPage/index.tsx
index 58a13d7b..4c392166 100644
--- a/src/pages/primary/LibraryPage/index.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/primary/LibraryPage/index.tsx
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ const LibraryPage = forwardRef<TPageRef>((_props, ref) => {
     showOnlyMine,
     setShowOnlyMine,
     loading,
+    engagementLoading,
     error,
     allIndexCount,
     topLevelCount,
@@ -69,13 +70,15 @@ const LibraryPage = forwardRef<TPageRef>((_props, ref) => {
         ) : null}
         {loading ? (
           <p className="mb-4 text-xs text-muted-foreground">{t('Library loading')}</p>
+        ) : engagementLoading ? (
+          <p className="mb-4 text-xs text-muted-foreground">{t('Library engagement loading')}</p>
         ) : null}
         {statusLine ? (
           <p className="mb-4 text-xs text-muted-foreground">{statusLine}</p>
         ) : null}
         <LibraryPublicationGrid
           entries={entries}
-          loading={loading}
+          loading={loading && entries.length === 0}
           emptyMessage={
             searchQuery.trim() || showOnlyMine ? t('Library empty filtered') : t('Library empty')
           }