diff --git a/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/index.ts b/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/index.ts
index 035a6808..f1bebea8 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 export { resolveChapterInfoFromVisibleNode } from "./node"
 export { buildTocCandidatesBySpineHref, buildTocIndex } from "./shared"
-export { buildChaptersInfo, buildStaticChaptersInfo } from "./static"
+export {
+  buildChaptersInfo,
+  createStaticChaptersResolver,
+  type StaticChaptersResolver,
+} from "./static"
 export type { ChapterInfo, TocCandidatesBySpineHref, TocIndex } from "./types"
diff --git a/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/shared.ts b/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/shared.ts
index 2899bc0f..c2f41f65 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/shared.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/shared.ts
@@ -52,7 +52,14 @@ const flattenToc = (
   })
 }
 
-const getSpineItemIndexByHref = (manifest: Manifest) => {
+/**
+ * Map every spine href to the index of its first occurrence.
+ *
+ * Building this once lets callers resolve a spine item index by href in O(1)
+ * instead of scanning `manifest.spineItems` per lookup. First-occurrence wins,
+ * which matches `Array.prototype.findIndex` semantics for duplicate hrefs.
+ */
+export const getSpineItemIndexByHref = (manifest: Manifest) => {
   const indexByHref = new Map<string, number>()
 
   manifest.spineItems.forEach((item, index) => {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/static.ts b/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/static.ts
index 13cecad0..4c32a7cb 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/static.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/chapters/static.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import type { Manifest } from "@prose-reader/shared"
 import {
   buildChapterInfoFromChain,
   buildTocIndex,
+  getSpineItemIndexByHref,
   isPossibleTocItemCandidateForHref,
   stripAnchor,
 } from "./shared"
@@ -26,17 +27,15 @@ const shouldSkipAnchorSubChapter = ({
 const findChapterChainByHref = ({
   href,
   tocIndex,
-  manifest,
+  spineItemIndexByHref,
 }: {
   href: string
   tocIndex: FlatTocEntry[]
-  manifest: Manifest
+  spineItemIndexByHref: Map<string, number>
 }): TocPathEntry[] | undefined => {
   const hrefWithoutAnchor = stripAnchor(href)
   const hrefHasAnchor = href.includes(`#`)
-  const spineItemIndex = manifest.spineItems.findIndex(
-    (item) => item.href === hrefWithoutAnchor,
-  )
+  const spineItemIndex = spineItemIndexByHref.get(hrefWithoutAnchor) ?? -1
 
   let bestChain: TocPathEntry[] | undefined
 
@@ -66,37 +65,67 @@ export const buildChaptersInfo = (
   manifest: Manifest,
 ): ChapterInfo | undefined => {
   const tocIndex = buildTocIndex(tocItem, manifest)
-  const chapterChain = findChapterChainByHref({ href, tocIndex, manifest })
+  const spineItemIndexByHref = getSpineItemIndexByHref(manifest)
+  const chapterChain = findChapterChainByHref({
+    href,
+    tocIndex,
+    spineItemIndexByHref,
+  })
 
   return chapterChain ? buildChapterInfoFromChain(chapterChain) : undefined
 }
 
-const buildChapterInfoFromSpineItem = (
-  manifest: Manifest,
-  tocIndex: TocIndex,
-  item: Manifest[`spineItems`][number],
-) => {
-  const { href } = item
-
-  const chapterChain = findChapterChainByHref({ href, tocIndex, manifest })
-
-  return chapterChain ? buildChapterInfoFromChain(chapterChain) : undefined
+export type StaticChaptersResolver = {
+  /**
+   * Fallback chapter info for a spine item, resolved from its own href against
+   * the TOC. Returns `undefined` for spine items not present in the TOC.
+   */
+  get: (spineItemId: string) => ChapterInfo | undefined
 }
 
-export const buildStaticChaptersInfo = (
+/**
+ * Lazily resolve the static (href-based) fallback chapter info per spine item.
+ *
+ * This fallback is only read for the few spine items actually displayed (see
+ * `mapChapterInfo`), yet the previous implementation eagerly resolved it for
+ * *every* spine item at book open — an O(spineItems × tocEntries) pass whose
+ * result was mostly thrown away on large books. Resolving on demand and caching
+ * per id makes the cost proportional to the items the reader visits, and each
+ * resolution avoids an O(spineItems) `findIndex` by reusing a prebuilt
+ * href → index map.
+ */
+export const createStaticChaptersResolver = (
   manifest: Manifest,
   tocIndex: TocIndex,
-): { [key: string]: ChapterInfo | undefined } => {
-  if (!manifest) return {}
-
-  const chaptersInfo = manifest.spineItems.reduce(
-    (acc, item) => {
-      acc[item.id] = buildChapterInfoFromSpineItem(manifest, tocIndex, item)
-
-      return acc
+): StaticChaptersResolver => {
+  const spineItemIndexByHref = getSpineItemIndexByHref(manifest)
+
+  // Last write wins, matching the previous `record[item.id] = …` assignment
+  // semantics when several spine items share an id.
+  const hrefBySpineItemId = new Map<string, string>()
+  manifest.spineItems.forEach((item) => {
+    hrefBySpineItemId.set(item.id, item.href)
+  })
+
+  const cache = new Map<string, ChapterInfo | undefined>()
+
+  return {
+    get: (spineItemId) => {
+      const cached = cache.get(spineItemId)
+      if (cached !== undefined || cache.has(spineItemId)) return cached
+
+      const href = hrefBySpineItemId.get(spineItemId)
+      const chapterChain =
+        href !== undefined
+          ? findChapterChainByHref({ href, tocIndex, spineItemIndexByHref })
+          : undefined
+      const chapterInfo = chapterChain
+        ? buildChapterInfoFromChain(chapterChain)
+        : undefined
+
+      cache.set(spineItemId, chapterInfo)
+
+      return chapterInfo
     },
-    {} as { [key: string]: ChapterInfo | undefined },
-  )
-
-  return chaptersInfo
+  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/trackPaginationInfo.ts b/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/trackPaginationInfo.ts
index e2453239..21024d74 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/trackPaginationInfo.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/enhancers/pagination/trackPaginationInfo.ts
@@ -15,17 +15,18 @@ import { Pages, type PagesState } from "../../spine/Pages"
 import type { SpineItem } from "../../spineItem/SpineItem"
 import type { LayoutEnhancerOutput } from "../layout/layoutEnhancer"
 import {
-  buildStaticChaptersInfo,
   buildTocCandidatesBySpineHref,
   buildTocIndex,
+  createStaticChaptersResolver,
   resolveChapterInfoFromVisibleNode,
+  type StaticChaptersResolver,
   type TocCandidatesBySpineHref,
 } from "./chapters"
 import { getPercentageEstimate } from "./progression"
 
 type ChaptersData = {
   tocCandidatesBySpineHref: TocCandidatesBySpineHref
-  chaptersInfo: ReturnType<typeof buildStaticChaptersInfo>
+  chaptersInfo: StaticChaptersResolver
 }
 
 type ChapterPaginationInfo = Pick<
@@ -97,12 +98,14 @@ const mapChapterInfo = ({
   return {
     beginChapterInfo:
       beginChapterInfoFromVisibleNode ??
-      (beginItem ? chaptersData.chaptersInfo[beginItem.item.id] : undefined),
+      (beginItem
+        ? chaptersData.chaptersInfo.get(beginItem.item.id)
+        : undefined),
     beginSpineItemReadingDirection: beginItem?.readingDirection,
     beginAbsolutePageIndex: beginPageEntry?.absolutePageIndex,
     endChapterInfo:
       endChapterInfoFromVisibleNode ??
-      (endItem ? chaptersData.chaptersInfo[endItem.item.id] : undefined),
+      (endItem ? chaptersData.chaptersInfo.get(endItem.item.id) : undefined),
     endSpineItemReadingDirection: endItem?.readingDirection,
     endAbsolutePageIndex: endPageEntry?.absolutePageIndex,
   }
@@ -186,7 +189,7 @@ const observeChaptersData = (reader: Reader & LayoutEnhancerOutput) =>
 
       return {
         tocCandidatesBySpineHref,
-        chaptersInfo: buildStaticChaptersInfo(manifest, tocIndex),
+        chaptersInfo: createStaticChaptersResolver(manifest, tocIndex),
       }
     }),
   )