diff --git a/searx/engines/zlibrary.py b/searx/engines/zlibrary.py
index a1729861f..233f776f3 100644
--- a/searx/engines/zlibrary.py
+++ b/searx/engines/zlibrary.py
@@ -39,15 +39,16 @@ from urllib.parse import quote
 from lxml import html
 from flask_babel import gettext  # pyright: ignore[reportUnknownVariableType]
 
-from searx.utils import extract_text, eval_xpath, eval_xpath_list
+from searx.utils import extract_text, eval_xpath, eval_xpath_list, ElementType
 from searx.enginelib.traits import EngineTraits
 from searx.data import ENGINE_TRAITS
 from searx.exceptions import SearxException
+from searx.result_types import EngineResults
 
 if t.TYPE_CHECKING:
     from searx.extended_types import SXNG_Response
+    from searx.search.processors import OnlineParams
 
-# about
 about: dict[str, t.Any] = {
     "website": "https://zlibrary-global.se",
     "wikidata_id": "Q104863992",
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ about: dict[str, t.Any] = {
     "results": "HTML",
 }
 
-categories: list[str] = ["files"]
+categories: list[str] = ["files", "books"]
 paging: bool = True
 base_url: str = "https://zlibrary-global.se"
 
@@ -74,8 +75,12 @@ zlib_ext: str = ""
 ``PDF`` and ``EPUB``.
 """
 
+i18n_language = gettext("Language")
+i18n_book_rating = gettext("Book rating")
+i18n_file_quality = gettext("File quality")
 
-def init(engine_settings: dict[str, t.Any] | None = None) -> None:  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
+
+def setup(engine_settings: dict[str, t.Any]) -> bool:  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     """Check of engine's settings."""
     traits: EngineTraits = EngineTraits(**ENGINE_TRAITS["z-library"])
 
@@ -85,10 +90,11 @@ def init(engine_settings: dict[str, t.Any] | None = None) -> None:  # pylint: di
         raise ValueError(f"invalid setting year_from: {zlib_year_from}")
     if zlib_year_to and zlib_year_to not in traits.custom["year_to"]:
         raise ValueError(f"invalid setting year_to: {zlib_year_to}")
+    return True
 
 
-def request(query: str, params: dict[str, t.Any]) -> dict[str, t.Any]:
-    lang: str = traits.get_language(params["language"], traits.all_locale)  # type: ignore
+def request(query: str, params: "OnlineParams") -> None:
+    lang: str | None = traits.get_language(params["searxng_locale"], traits.all_locale)
     search_url: str = (
         base_url
         + "/s/{search_query}/?page={pageno}"
@@ -106,41 +112,35 @@ def request(query: str, params: dict[str, t.Any]) -> dict[str, t.Any]:
         zlib_ext=zlib_ext,
     )
     params["verify"] = False
-    return params
 
 
-def domain_is_seized(dom):
-    return bool(dom.xpath('//title') and "seized" in dom.xpath('//title')[0].text.lower())
-
-
-def response(resp: "SXNG_Response") -> list[dict[str, t.Any]]:
-    results: list[dict[str, t.Any]] = []
+def response(resp: "SXNG_Response") -> EngineResults:
+    res = EngineResults()
     dom = html.fromstring(resp.text)
 
     if domain_is_seized(dom):
         raise SearxException(f"zlibrary domain is seized: {base_url}")
 
     for item in dom.xpath('//div[@id="searchResultBox"]//div[contains(@class, "resItemBox")]'):
-        results.append(_parse_result(item))
+        kwargs = _parse_result(item)
+        res.add(res.types.Paper(**kwargs))
 
-    return results
+    return res
 
 
-def _text(item, selector: str) -> str | None:
+def domain_is_seized(dom: ElementType):
+    return bool(dom.xpath('//title') and "seized" in dom.xpath('//title')[0].text.lower())
+
+
+def _text(item: ElementType, selector: str) -> str | None:
     return extract_text(eval_xpath(item, selector))
 
 
-i18n_language = gettext("Language")
-i18n_book_rating = gettext("Book rating")
-i18n_file_quality = gettext("File quality")
-
-
-def _parse_result(item) -> dict[str, t.Any]:
+def _parse_result(item: ElementType) -> dict[str, t.Any]:
 
     author_elements = eval_xpath_list(item, './/div[@class="authors"]//a[@itemprop="author"]')
 
     result = {
-        "template": "paper.html",
         "url": base_url + item.xpath('(.//a[starts-with(@href, "/book/")])[1]/@href')[0],
         "title": _text(item, './/*[@itemprop="name"]'),
         "authors": [extract_text(author) for author in author_elements],
@@ -148,15 +148,15 @@ def _parse_result(item) -> dict[str, t.Any]:
         "type": _text(item, './/div[contains(@class, "property__file")]//div[contains(@class, "property_value")]'),
     }
 
-    thumbnail: str = _text(item, './/img[contains(@class, "cover")]/@data-src')
-    if not thumbnail.startswith('/'):
+    thumbnail = _text(item, './/img[contains(@class, "cover")]/@data-src')
+    if thumbnail and not thumbnail.startswith('/'):
         result["thumbnail"] = thumbnail
 
     year = _text(item, './/div[contains(@class, "property_year")]//div[contains(@class, "property_value")]')
     if year:
         result["publishedDate"] = datetime.strptime(year, '%Y')
 
-    content = []
+    content: list[str] = []
     language = _text(item, './/div[contains(@class, "property_language")]//div[contains(@class, "property_value")]')
     if language:
         content.append(f"{i18n_language}: {language.capitalize()}")
@@ -173,9 +173,10 @@ def _parse_result(item) -> dict[str, t.Any]:
 
 def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits) -> None:
     """Fetch languages and other search arguments from zlibrary's search form."""
-    # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel, too-many-branches
+    # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel, too-many-branches, too-many-statements
 
     import babel
+    import babel.core
     import httpx
 
     from searx.network import get  # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/762
@@ -197,7 +198,7 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits) -> None:
 
     if not resp.ok:
         raise RuntimeError("Response from zlibrary's search page is not OK.")
-    dom = html.fromstring(resp.text)  # type: ignore
+    dom = html.fromstring(resp.text)
 
     if domain_is_seized(dom):
         print(f"ERROR: zlibrary domain is seized: {base_url}")
@@ -206,25 +207,30 @@ def fetch_traits(engine_traits: EngineTraits) -> None:
 
     engine_traits.all_locale = ""
     engine_traits.custom["ext"] = []
-    engine_traits.custom["year_from"] = []
-    engine_traits.custom["year_to"] = []
 
+    l: list[str]
+    # years_from
+    l = []
     for year in eval_xpath_list(dom, "//div[@id='advSearch-noJS']//select[@id='sf_yearFrom']/option"):
-        engine_traits.custom["year_from"].append(year.get("value"))
+        l.append(year.get("value") or "")
+    engine_traits.custom["year_from"] = l
 
+    # years_to
+    l = []
     for year in eval_xpath_list(dom, "//div[@id='advSearch-noJS']//select[@id='sf_yearTo']/option"):
-        engine_traits.custom["year_to"].append(year.get("value"))
+        l.append(year.get("value") or "")
+    engine_traits.custom["year_to"] = l
 
+    # ext (file extensions)
+    l = []
     for ext in eval_xpath_list(dom, "//div[@id='advSearch-noJS']//select[@id='sf_extensions']/option"):
-        value: str | None = ext.get("value")
-        if value is None:
-            value = ""
-        engine_traits.custom["ext"].append(value)
+        l.append(ext.get("value") or "")
+    engine_traits.custom["ext"] = l
 
     # Handle languages
     # Z-library uses English names for languages, so we need to map them to their respective locales
     language_name_locale_map: dict[str, babel.Locale] = {}
-    for locale in babel.core.localedata.locale_identifiers():  # type: ignore
+    for locale in babel.core.localedata.locale_identifiers():
         # Create a Locale object for the current locale
         loc = babel.Locale.parse(locale)
         if loc.english_name is None:
diff --git a/searx/settings.yml b/searx/settings.yml
index 200f96de9..217658088 100644
--- a/searx/settings.yml
+++ b/searx/settings.yml
@@ -1254,9 +1254,10 @@ engines:
   - name: z-library
     engine: zlibrary
     shortcut: zlib
-    categories: files
     timeout: 7.0
     disabled: true
+    # https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/3610
+    inactive: true
 
   - name: library of congress
     engine: loc