Worldwide, the adoption of metaverse technology is rapidly expanding, proving its versatility across numerous domains. As part of this evolution, augmented reality (AR) poses new opportunities to enrich the students experience in academic libraries. However, research into students’ acceptability of this technology in Malaysian universities remains largely unexplored, which limits the application of AR in this region. Achieving successful implementation requires alignment with user inclinations and demographic-specific preferences. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the issues associated with mobile library applications (MLAs) and assess students’ perspectives on incorporating AR in the university library using a three-step methodology. The findings revealed four significant challenges with the current MLA interface, encompassing issues related to design, search, interaction, and features, resulted in a considerable dissatisfaction, as evidenced by a low mean score of 2.2885 and the frequent negative experiences, with a mean score of 3.6923. These challenges underscore the need for substantial improvements in the MLA’s interface. Despite these challenges, statistical analysis revealed a strong positive correlation (r = 0.749) between negative experience with the MLA and the notion that AR could increase interest in utilizing the app. This suggests that AR holds promising potential to address existing challenges and enhance user engagement. The findings of this study will determine the necessity of metaverse implementation in local university libraries, taking into account the pain points and challenges of existing applications, thereby guiding future research toward identifying crucial areas of attention.