diff --git a/apps/iiif/manifests/documents.py b/apps/iiif/manifests/documents.py
index 5c372013..87ef093d 100644
--- a/apps/iiif/manifests/documents.py
+++ b/apps/iiif/manifests/documents.py
@@ -121,7 +121,10 @@ def prepare_metadata(self, instance):
             and isinstance(settings.CUSTOM_METADATA, dict)
         ):
             # should be a dict like {meta_key: {"multi": bool, "separator": str}}
-            for key, opts in settings.CUSTOM_METADATA.items():
+            for key, opts in filter(
+                lambda item: item[1].get("faceted", False), # filter to only faceted fields
+                settings.CUSTOM_METADATA.items(),
+            ):
                 val = None
                 # each key in CUSTOM_METADATA dict should be a metadata key.
                 # however, instance.metadata will generally be a list rather than a dict: it's a
diff --git a/apps/readux/forms.py b/apps/readux/forms.py
index 1179f59d..66252e8d 100644
--- a/apps/readux/forms.py
+++ b/apps/readux/forms.py
@@ -149,8 +149,12 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
             and hasattr(settings, "CUSTOM_METADATA")
             and isinstance(settings.CUSTOM_METADATA, dict)
         ):
-            # should be a dict like {meta_key: {"multi": bool, "separator": str}}
-            for key in settings.CUSTOM_METADATA.keys():
+            # should be a dict like {meta_key: {"multi": bool, "separator": str, "faceted": bool}}
+            for key in [
+                k
+                for k in settings.CUSTOM_METADATA.keys()
+                if settings.CUSTOM_METADATA[k].get("faceted", False)
+            ]:
                 self.fields[
                     # use django-friendly form field names
                     key.casefold().replace(" ", "_")
diff --git a/apps/readux/views.py b/apps/readux/views.py
index 23b542fc..1842a4d4 100644
--- a/apps/readux/views.py
+++ b/apps/readux/views.py
@@ -311,7 +311,11 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
             and hasattr(settings, "CUSTOM_METADATA")
             and isinstance(settings.CUSTOM_METADATA, dict)
         ):
-            for key in settings.CUSTOM_METADATA.keys():
+            for key in [
+                k
+                for k in settings.CUSTOM_METADATA.keys()
+                if settings.CUSTOM_METADATA[k].get("faceted", False)
+            ]:
                 self.facets.append((key, NestedFacet(
                     "metadata",
                     TermsFacet(field=f"metadata.{key}", size=2000, min_doc_count=1),
@@ -351,6 +355,7 @@ def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
                 # use django-friendly form field names
                 key.casefold().replace(" ", "_")
                 for key in settings.CUSTOM_METADATA.keys()
+                if settings.CUSTOM_METADATA[key].get("faceted", False) == True
             ]
             if hasattr(settings, "CUSTOM_METADATA")
             and isinstance(settings.CUSTOM_METADATA, dict)
@@ -512,7 +517,11 @@ def get_queryset(self):
         if hasattr(settings, "CUSTOM_METADATA") and isinstance(
             settings.CUSTOM_METADATA, dict
         ):
-            for key in settings.CUSTOM_METADATA.keys():
+            for key in [
+                k
+                for k in settings.CUSTOM_METADATA.keys()
+                if settings.CUSTOM_METADATA[k].get("faceted", False)
+            ]:
                 field_name = key.casefold().replace(" ", "_")
                 meta_filter = form_data.get(field_name) or ""
                 if meta_filter:
diff --git a/config/settings/local.dst b/config/settings/local.dst
index b95c6da4..a229c2ce 100644
--- a/config/settings/local.dst
+++ b/config/settings/local.dst
@@ -173,22 +173,31 @@ LOGGING = {
 ELASTICSEARCH_DSL['default']['hosts'] = 'user:pass@localhost:9200'
 INDEX_PREFIX = "readux_test"
 
-# Custom faceted metadata fields configuration. Must be a dict with key names
-# matching exactly the ingest metadata spradsheet column names to be indexed.
+# Custom metadata fields configuration. Metadata in this list will appear under
+# "Advanced" in each volume's metadata. Must be a dict with key names
+# matching exactly the spradsheet column names in volume ingest metadata.
 # For each column, configure options for whether it should accept multiple
 # values in a single record ("multi": True), and if so, what separator will be
 # used ("separator": ";", semicolon by default).
-# Note that these key names will also correspond to "label" names in the Manifest
-# metadata list.
+# 
+# If you would like a field to appear as a faceted search filter on the volumes
+# search page, include "faceted": True for that field. If not included, or set
+# False, the field will not be indexed for search. Changing this setting will
+# require a search reindex (python manage.py search_index --rebuild).
+#
+# Note that these key names will also correspond to "label" names in each IIIF
+# manifest's metadata list.
 #
 # Example:
 # CUSTOM_METADATA = {
 #     "Column Name": {
 #         "multi": True,
 #         "separator": ";",
+#         "faceted": True,
 #     },
 #     "Other Column": {
 #         "multi": False,
+#         "faceted": False,
 #     },
 # }