Library

The Library module covers the full book circulation cycle: cataloguing titles, registering physical copies (including existing school codes), printing spine labels, issuing loans to students and staff, tracking status, logging damage, and generating reports.

Who can access this: Admin, Headmaster, Librarian.

Overview dashboard

Library → Overview shows live counts for titles, copies, available copies, active loans, overdue loans, and open damage reports, plus charts of copies by status and by condition. Quick actions let you jump to issuing a loan or run Mark Overdue without leaving the page.

Book Categories

Every book is filed under a category (for example Mathematics, Fiction, or Reference). Unlike a fixed dropdown, your school owns this list and can tailor it to how your library is organised.

Who can manage categories: Admin, Librarian. (Headmasters can view them.)

Managing categories

1. Navigate to Library → Categories.
2. Click Add Category and give it a name. Optionally set a short code (e.g. MTH) — used on spine-label call numbers — and a description.
3. Use the row actions to edit or remove a category at any time.

Removing a category

Removing a category hides it from the catalogue's category picker. Books already filed under it keep their label; the category simply can't be chosen for new books. Schools upgrading from the previous fixed subject list keep all their existing classifications.

Book Catalogue

The catalogue holds one record per unique book title — not one record per physical copy.

Adding a book

1. Navigate to Library → Catalogue.
2. Click Add Book.
3. Fill in the title, author, department, and category. ISBN, publisher, publication year, and description are optional. Categories come from your school's own list — see Book Categories to manage them.
4. Click Add Book to save.

Editing a book

Use the pencil icon on a catalogue row, or open the book's detail page and click Edit Book, to change the title, author, department, category, ISBN, publisher, year, or description.

Deleting a book

Use the trash icon on a catalogue row, or Delete on the book detail page. Deleting removes the title and its copies from the catalogue after a confirmation. A title with active or overdue loans cannot be deleted — return the books first.

Finding a book quickly

Press ⌘K / Ctrl+K anywhere in the dashboard and type part of a title, author, or ISBN — matching books appear under a Books group and jump straight to the book's detail page.

Copies

Each physical book on the shelf is a copy of a catalogue title. Copies have their own tag number, condition, and availability status.

Adding new copies (system-generated codes)

1. Open a book's detail page and click Add Copies.
2. On the New Copies tab, enter the number of copies to add.
3. Choose an initial condition (defaults to Good).
4. Click Add & Get Labels — the system generates tag numbers (e.g. LIB-BHS-000042).
5. A prompt appears to download the spine labels PDF. Print and stick the labels on the physical books.

Registering copies with existing codes

If your school already has physical books stickered with its own codes (e.g. AT-253, BIO-12):

1. Open the book's detail page and click Add Copies.
2. Switch to the Register Existing tab.
3. Paste or type the existing codes, one per line.
4. Click Register Copies — no label printing is needed since the books already have stickers.

Printing spine labels

• To print labels for all copies of a book: click Print All Labels on the book detail page.
• To print a single copy's label: click the printer icon on the copy row.
• Labels are generated as a downloadable PDF (A4 sheet, 4 labels per row).

Withdrawing a copy

Click the withdraw icon (→ out arrow) on a copy row to mark it as Withdrawn. Withdrawn copies are removed from the available pool.

Loans

Issuing a loan

1. Navigate to Library → Loans and click Issue Loan.
2. Search for an available copy by tag number or title.
3. Select the borrower type (Student or Staff) and then the borrower.
4. Optionally adjust the due date (defaults to 14 days from today).
5. Click Issue Loan.

The copy's status changes to Borrowed immediately.

Borrow limits

A borrower can have a limited number of books out at once (including overdue ones): 3 for students and 5 for staff. Issuing a loan beyond the limit is rejected with a clear message — return one of the borrower's books first.

Returning a book

On the Loans page, find the active loan and click Return. Confirm the dialog. The copy returns to Available.

Renewing a loan

Click Renew on any active or overdue loan to extend the due date by 14 days. Each loan can be renewed at most twice; the Renew button is disabled once the limit is reached, and the due-date column shows how many times a loan has been renewed.

Overdue loans

Loans past their due date are automatically flagged as Overdue (highlighted in red on the Loans page). Use the Status filter to see only overdue loans, or click Mark Overdue on the Loans page or Library overview to flag them on demand.

When there are overdue loans, the notification bell in the top bar shows an Overdue book loans count that links straight to the filtered Loans page.

Marking a loan lost

If a borrowed book cannot be recovered, click Lost on the loan row and confirm. The loan and its copy are both marked Lost and the copy leaves circulation. (Logging Total Loss damage does the same thing via the Damage Log.)

A borrower's loan history

Open a student's record page to see their Library Loans card with recent loans and a View all link to the Loans page filtered to that student.

Damage Log

Logging damage

1. Navigate to Library → Damage Log and click Log Damage.
2. Select the affected copy.
3. If the damage occurred during a loan, optionally link it to the active loan.
4. Choose a severity (Minor, Moderate, Severe, or Total Loss).
5. Enter a description and optionally update the copy's condition.
6. Click Log Damage.

A Total Loss severity automatically marks the copy as Lost and closes any linked active loan.

Resolving a damage record

Click Resolve on an open damage record and enter resolution notes (e.g. "Repaired binding"). The record is then marked resolved.

Reports

Navigate to Library → Reports to download CSV exports: