sharing Photos albums - dysfunctional

I have created several Shared Albums. When I created them, I worked on them in isolation and did not invite anyone to see them. When I "share" them, following Apple Support instructions, recipients get them as "saved today", which defeats my purpose of sharing albums organized by meaningful names. When I try to create new shared albums, first specifying who to share them with, I am offered to add photos - with no organization at all. I cannot pick existing (organized) albums from which to import photos.

I looked into Shared Library, and it is equally dysfunctional - one cannot organize the photos at all.

All the people I want to share them with are members of my family iCloud account.

1. Is Apple truly this dysfunctional about Photos organization?
2. if so, can anyone recommend a functional alternative?