Hi Kelly Frame,
Thanks for posting in Apple Support Communities.
Photos from shared albums are not automatically added to your personal library. Those photos have to be selected and the user must choose "Save Image" in order for it to save to their own device.
Save photos and videos from a shared album
When you share photos and videos with someone, they can save shared items to their own library.
1. Tap the photo or video.
2. Tap the Share button .
3. Tap Save Image or Save Video.
You can find these steps in How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Apple Support.
Find more information on how to use shared albums in Create a shared album in Photos on Mac - Apple Support.
Regards.
Kelly Frame wrote:
Is there a way to have Photos automatically save new photos that are added to a Shared Album to the Photos Library? I set up a Shared Album for my elderly parents, but explaining that they need to go look for the photos in the Shared Albums location is just one more step that confuses them, so I'd like to have the photos copied over to their main Library.