diff --git a/manual/gui.rst b/manual/gui.rst
index bcce1e4d37..7b3479e088 100644
--- a/manual/gui.rst
+++ b/manual/gui.rst
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ You can build advanced search queries easily using the :guilabel:`Advanced searc
 clicking the button |sbi|.
 
 Available fields for searching are: ``tag, title, author, publisher, series, series_index, rating, cover,
-comments, format, identifiers, date, pubdate, search, size`` and custom columns. If a device is plugged in, the ``ondevice`` field becomes available, when searching the calibre library view. To find the search name (actually called the `lookup name`) for a custom column, hover your mouse over the column header in the library view.
+comments, format, identifiers, date, pubdate, search, size, vl`` and custom columns. If a device is plugged in, the ``ondevice`` field becomes available, when searching the calibre library view. To find the search name (actually called the `lookup name`) for a custom column, hover your mouse over the column header in the library view.
 
 The syntax for searching for dates is::
 
@@ -400,6 +400,12 @@ The special field ``search`` is used for saved searches. So if you save a search
 "My spouse's books" you can enter ``search:"My spouse's books"`` in the Search bar to reuse the saved
 search. More about saving searches below.
 
+The special field ``vl`` is used to search for books in a virtual library. For
+example, ``vl:Read`` will find all the books in the *Read* virtual library. The search
+``vl:Read and vl:"Science Fiction"`` will find all the books that are in both the *Read* and
+*Science Fiction* virtual libraries. The value following ``vl:`` must be the name of a 
+virtual library. If the virtual library name contains spaces then surround it with quotes.
+
 You can search for the absence or presence of a field using the special "true" and "false" values. For example::
 
     cover:false will give you all books without a cover
diff --git a/manual/virtual_libraries.rst b/manual/virtual_libraries.rst
index 51f378bdb7..d3138d6ced 100644
--- a/manual/virtual_libraries.rst
+++ b/manual/virtual_libraries.rst
@@ -95,6 +95,23 @@ virtual libraries as tabs`. You can re-arrange the tabs by drag and drop and
 close ones you do not want to see. Closed tabs can be restored by
 right-clicking on the tab bar.
 
+Using Virtual libraries in searches
+-------------------------------------
+
+You can search for books that are in a virtual library using the ``vl:`` prefix. For
+example, ``vl:Read`` will find all the books in the *Read* virtual library. The search
+``vl:Read and vl:"Science Fiction"`` will find all the books that are in both the *Read* and
+*Science Fiction* virtual libraries.
+
+The value following ``vl:`` must be the name of a virtual library. If the virtual library name 
+contains spaces then surround it with quotes.
+
+One use for a virtual library search is in the content server. In
+:guilabel:`Preferences->Sharing over the net->Require username/password` you
+can limit the calibre libraries visible to a user. For each visible library you
+can specify a search expression to further limit which books are seen. Use
+``vl:"Virtual library name"`` to limit the books to those in a virtual library.
+
 Using additional restrictions
 -------------------------------
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/db/search.py b/src/calibre/db/search.py
index 71138d0132..947429d2de 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/search.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/search.py
@@ -498,6 +498,15 @@ class Parser(SearchQueryParser):  # {{{
         if location not in self.all_search_locations:
             return matches
 
+        if location == 'vl':
+            vl = self.dbcache._pref('virtual_libraries', {}).get(query) if query else None
+            if not vl:
+                raise ParseException(_('No such virtual library: {}').format(query))
+            try:
+                return candidates & self.dbcache.books_in_virtual_library(query)
+            except RuntimeError:
+                raise ParseException(_('Virtual library search is recursive: {}').format(query))
+
         if (len(location) > 2 and location.startswith('@') and
                     location[1:] in self.grouped_search_terms):
             location = location[1:]
@@ -915,4 +924,3 @@ class Search(object):
             self.cache.add(query, result)
 
         return result
-
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/field_metadata.py b/src/calibre/library/field_metadata.py
index 66153ddce5..12b35e0130 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/field_metadata.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/field_metadata.py
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ class FieldMetadata(object):
                 'int', 'float', 'bool', 'series', 'composite', 'enumeration'])
 
     # search labels that are not db columns
-    search_items = ['all', 'search']
+    search_items = ['all', 'search', 'vl']
     __calibre_serializable__ = True
 
     def __init__(self):
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/errors.py b/src/calibre/srv/errors.py
index 676a69083c..db251b34cf 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/errors.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/errors.py
@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@ class HTTPForbidden(HTTPSimpleResponse):
         HTTPSimpleResponse.__init__(self, httplib.FORBIDDEN, http_message, close_connection, log=log)
 
 
+class HTTPInternalServerError(HTTPSimpleResponse):
+
+    def __init__(self, http_message='', close_connection=True, log=None):
+        HTTPSimpleResponse.__init__(self, httplib.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, http_message, close_connection, log=log)
+
+
 class BookNotFound(HTTPNotFound):
 
     def __init__(self, book_id, db):
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/handler.py b/src/calibre/srv/handler.py
index 12a33e4735..421d313342 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/handler.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/handler.py
@@ -118,8 +118,10 @@ class Context(object):
                 raise
             return frozenset()
 
-    def get_categories(self, request_data, db, sort='name', first_letter_sort=True, vl=''):
-        restrict_to_ids = self.get_effective_book_ids(db, request_data, vl)
+    def get_categories(self, request_data, db, sort='name', first_letter_sort=True,
+                       vl='', report_parse_errors=False):
+        restrict_to_ids = self.get_effective_book_ids(db, request_data, vl,
+                                          report_parse_errors=report_parse_errors)
         key = restrict_to_ids, sort, first_letter_sort
         with self.lock:
             cache = self.library_broker.category_caches[db.server_library_id]
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/opds.py b/src/calibre/srv/opds.py
index 35e3868666..ae14025fea 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/opds.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/opds.py
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@ from calibre.library.comments import comments_to_html
 from calibre import guess_type, prepare_string_for_xml as xml
 from calibre.utils.icu import sort_key
 from calibre.utils.date import as_utc, timestampfromdt, is_date_undefined
+from calibre.utils.search_query_parser import ParseException
 
-from calibre.srv.errors import HTTPNotFound
+from calibre.srv.errors import HTTPNotFound, HTTPInternalServerError
 from calibre.srv.routes import endpoint
 from calibre.srv.utils import get_library_data, http_date, Offsets
 
@@ -381,8 +382,9 @@ class RequestContext(object):
     def last_modified(self):
         return self.db.last_modified()
 
-    def get_categories(self):
-        return self.ctx.get_categories(self.rd, self.db)
+    def get_categories(self, report_parse_errors=False):
+        return self.ctx.get_categories(self.rd, self.db,
+                                       report_parse_errors=report_parse_errors)
 
     def search(self, query):
         return self.ctx.search(self.rd, self.db, query)
@@ -470,7 +472,11 @@ def get_navcatalog(request_context, which, page_url, up_url, offset=0):
 def opds(ctx, rd):
     rc = RequestContext(ctx, rd)
     db = rc.db
-    categories = rc.get_categories()
+    try:
+        categories = rc.get_categories(report_parse_errors=True)
+    except ParseException as p:
+        raise HTTPInternalServerError(p.msg)
+
     category_meta = db.field_metadata
     cats = [
         (_('Newest'), _('Date'), 'Onewest'),