diff --git a/include/search_renderer.h b/include/search_renderer.h
index 10721be07..22dccef1f 100644
--- a/include/search_renderer.h
+++ b/include/search_renderer.h
@@ -81,9 +81,9 @@ class SearchRenderer
   void setSearchPattern(const std::string& pattern);
 
   /**
-   * Set the book names used to do the search.
+   * Set the querystring used to select books
    */
-  void setSearchBookIds(const std::set<std::string>& bookIds);
+  void setSearchBookQuery(const std::string& bookQuery);
 
   /**
    * Set protocol prefix.
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class SearchRenderer
   zim::SearchResultSet m_srs;
   NameMapper* mp_nameMapper;
   Library* mp_library;
-  std::set<std::string> searchBookIds;
+  std::string searchBookQuery;
   std::string searchPattern;
   std::string protocolPrefix;
   std::string searchProtocolPrefix;
diff --git a/src/search_renderer.cpp b/src/search_renderer.cpp
index 2c4e29f0b..8878ead80 100644
--- a/src/search_renderer.cpp
+++ b/src/search_renderer.cpp
@@ -71,9 +71,9 @@ void SearchRenderer::setSearchPattern(const std::string& pattern)
   searchPattern = pattern;
 }
 
-void SearchRenderer::setSearchBookIds(const std::set<std::string>& bookIds)
+void SearchRenderer::setSearchBookQuery(const std::string& bookQuery)
 {
-  searchBookIds = bookIds;
+  searchBookQuery = bookQuery;
 }
 
 void SearchRenderer::setProtocolPrefix(const std::string& prefix)
@@ -90,15 +90,13 @@ kainjow::mustache::data buildQueryData
 (
   const std::string& searchProtocolPrefix,
   const std::string& pattern,
-  const std::set<std::string>& bookIds
+  const std::string& bookQuery
 ) {
   kainjow::mustache::data query;
   query.set("pattern", kiwix::encodeDiples(pattern));
   std::ostringstream ss;
   ss << searchProtocolPrefix << "?pattern=" << urlEncode(pattern, true);
-  for (auto& bookId: bookIds) {
-    ss << "&books.id="<<urlEncode(bookId, true);
-  }
+  ss << "&" << bookQuery;
   query.set("unpaginatedQuery", ss.str());
   return query;
 }
@@ -199,7 +197,7 @@ std::string SearchRenderer::getHtml()
   kainjow::mustache::data query = buildQueryData(
     searchProtocolPrefix,
     searchPattern,
-    searchBookIds
+    searchBookQuery
   );
 
   std::string template_str = RESOURCE::templates::search_result_html;
diff --git a/src/server/internalServer.cpp b/src/server/internalServer.cpp
index 498695220..20e20f7d4 100644
--- a/src/server/internalServer.cpp
+++ b/src/server/internalServer.cpp
@@ -214,13 +214,15 @@ void checkBookNumber(const Library::BookIdSet& bookIds, size_t limit) {
 
 } // unnamed namespace
 
-Library::BookIdSet InternalServer::selectBooks(const RequestContext& request) const
+std::pair<std::string, Library::BookIdSet> InternalServer::selectBooks(const RequestContext& request) const
 {
   // Try old API
   try {
     auto bookName = request.get_argument("content");
     try {
-      return {mp_nameMapper->getIdForName(bookName)};
+      const auto bookIds = Library::BookIdSet{mp_nameMapper->getIdForName(bookName)};
+      const auto queryString = request.get_query([&](const std::string& key){return key == "content";});
+      return {queryString, bookIds};
     } catch (const std::out_of_range&) {
       throw Error(noSuchBookErrorMsg(bookName));
     }
@@ -236,7 +238,8 @@ Library::BookIdSet InternalServer::selectBooks(const RequestContext& request) co
       throw Error(noValueForArgMsg("books.id"));
     }
     const auto bookIds = Library::BookIdSet(id_vec.begin(), id_vec.end());
-    return bookIds;
+    const auto queryString = request.get_query([&](const std::string& key){return key == "books.id";});
+    return {queryString, bookIds};
   } catch(const std::out_of_range&) {}
 
   // Use the names
@@ -253,7 +256,8 @@ Library::BookIdSet InternalServer::selectBooks(const RequestContext& request) co
         throw Error(noSuchBookErrorMsg(bookName));
       }
     }
-    return bookIds;
+    const auto queryString = request.get_query([&](const std::string& key){return key == "books.name";});
+    return {queryString, bookIds};
   } catch(const std::out_of_range&) {}
 
   // Check for filtering
@@ -263,13 +267,14 @@ Library::BookIdSet InternalServer::selectBooks(const RequestContext& request) co
     throw Error(nonParameterizedMessage("no-book-found"));
   }
   const auto bookIds = Library::BookIdSet(id_vec.begin(), id_vec.end());
-  return bookIds;
+  const auto queryString = request.get_query([&](const std::string& key){return startsWith(key, "books.filter.");});
+  return {queryString, bookIds};
 }
 
 SearchInfo InternalServer::getSearchInfo(const RequestContext& request) const
 {
   auto bookIds = selectBooks(request);
-  checkBookNumber(bookIds, m_multizimSearchLimit);
+  checkBookNumber(bookIds.second, m_multizimSearchLimit);
   auto pattern = request.get_optional_param<std::string>("pattern", "");
   GeoQuery geoQuery;
 
@@ -286,13 +291,14 @@ SearchInfo InternalServer::getSearchInfo(const RequestContext& request) const
     throw Error(nonParameterizedMessage("no-query"));
   }
 
-  return SearchInfo(pattern, geoQuery, bookIds);
+  return SearchInfo(pattern, geoQuery, bookIds.second, bookIds.first);
 }
 
-SearchInfo::SearchInfo(const std::string& pattern, GeoQuery geoQuery, const Library::BookIdSet& bookIds)
+SearchInfo::SearchInfo(const std::string& pattern, GeoQuery geoQuery, const Library::BookIdSet& bookIds, const std::string& bookFilterQuery)
   : pattern(pattern),
     geoQuery(geoQuery),
-    bookIds(bookIds)
+    bookIds(bookIds),
+    bookFilterQuery(bookFilterQuery)
 {}
 
 zim::Query SearchInfo::getZimQuery(bool verbose) const {
@@ -751,7 +757,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<Response> InternalServer::handle_search(const RequestContext& re
     SearchRenderer renderer(search->getResults(start, pageLength), mp_nameMapper, mp_library, start,
                             search->getEstimatedMatches());
     renderer.setSearchPattern(searchInfo.pattern);
-    renderer.setSearchBookIds(bookIds);
+    renderer.setSearchBookQuery(searchInfo.bookFilterQuery);
     renderer.setProtocolPrefix(m_root + "/");
     renderer.setSearchProtocolPrefix(m_root + "/search");
     renderer.setPageLength(pageLength);
diff --git a/src/server/internalServer.h b/src/server/internalServer.h
index cd3174189..a0cffa95b 100644
--- a/src/server/internalServer.h
+++ b/src/server/internalServer.h
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ struct GeoQuery {
 
 class SearchInfo {
   public:
-    SearchInfo(const std::string& pattern, GeoQuery geoQuery, const Library::BookIdSet& bookIds);
+    SearchInfo(const std::string& pattern, GeoQuery geoQuery, const Library::BookIdSet& bookIds, const std::string& bookFilterString);
 
     zim::Query getZimQuery(bool verbose) const;
     const Library::BookIdSet& getBookIds() const { return bookIds; }
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ class SearchInfo {
     std::string pattern;
     GeoQuery geoQuery;
     Library::BookIdSet bookIds;
+    std::string bookFilterQuery;
 };
 
 
@@ -149,7 +150,7 @@ class InternalServer {
 
     bool etag_not_needed(const RequestContext& r) const;
     ETag get_matching_if_none_match_etag(const RequestContext& request) const;
-    Library::BookIdSet selectBooks(const RequestContext& r) const;
+    std::pair<std::string, Library::BookIdSet> selectBooks(const RequestContext& r) const;
     SearchInfo getSearchInfo(const RequestContext& r) const;
 
   private: // data