Library Management
Run the whole library — catalogue, issue desk, holds and fines — inside the school system that already knows every reader.
What this module is
A school library is usually run on a spreadsheet, a stamped card, or a standalone system that knows nothing about the school around it. The result is familiar: nobody can say what is on loan, overdue books are chased by memory, and the librarian re-types the student roll every September.
The Library module puts circulation on the same record as everything else. Every student and staff member is already a potential borrower — no import, no separate account, no parallel roster to maintain. When a student leaves, their borrowing record leaves with them; when a new intake arrives, they can borrow the same day.
The module divides into six surfaces for the librarian — overview, catalogue, circulation, holds, members and analytics — and a read-only view for teachers and students, each scoped to what that person is allowed to see. What follows walks each role through the screens they actually use.
What you get
One catalogue, always searchable
Titles and physical copies are tracked separately, so three copies of one book behave correctly: two on loan, one on the shelf, and the catalogue says so.
Overdues chase themselves
Loans carry due dates and fines accrue against the borrower automatically. The librarian reads a list instead of reconstructing one.
No separate membership roll
Borrowers are the school’s existing students and staff. Enrolment changes flow through; there is no second roster to reconcile.
Holds that resolve themselves
Popular titles get a priority queue, so the next reader is determined the moment a copy comes back rather than by who asks first.
Evidence for the book budget
Usage by title, subject and member turns an acquisitions request from a hunch into a number.
Students can see their own account
What they have, when it is due, where they sit in a hold queue — which removes most of the traffic at the issue desk.
How Library Management actually works
Everything below is the real application, running live on this page with sample school data — not screenshots. Each screen is the same one your team would use.
Librarian / School Admin
The librarian runs the module day to day. These six screens are the whole job: know the state of the library, keep the catalogue honest, work the issue desk, manage the queue, look after member accounts, and justify next year’s budget.
Start on the overview
The landing screen answers the questions a librarian is asked without warning: how big is the collection, what is out, what is late, and what do we owe.
Keep the catalogue honest
The catalogue is the register of what the library owns. It models titles and their individual copies separately, which is what makes multi-copy availability work.
Work the issue desk
Circulation is the daily loop — issue a book, take one back, deal with what is late. This is the screen the librarian keeps open.
Manage the queue for popular titles
When every copy of a set text is out, the question is who gets it next. Holds answer that with a priority-ordered queue instead of whoever happens to ask.
Look after member accounts
Members are the school’s own students and staff. This screen is where borrowing privileges and account history live.
Make the case for the budget
The analytics screen turns a term of circulation into the evidence a head teacher will act on.
Teachers & other staff
Teachers do not run the library, but they depend on it — for reading lists, for set texts, and as borrowers themselves. Their view is deliberately read-only over the collection, plus full control of their own account.
See the state of the shelves
A teacher planning a topic needs to know what the library holds and what is currently out. That is the whole of this screen — no administrative controls to wade through.
Build a reading list
Search the full catalogue by subject and media type to assemble a classroom list, with real availability attached rather than a guess.
Track their own borrowing
Staff see their current loans, due dates and history without walking to the issue desk to ask.
Reserve ahead of a topic
A teacher can place holds on titles weeks before a unit starts and see exactly where each request sits in the queue — so the books arrive when the lesson does.
Students
Most library friction is students not knowing what they have, when it is due, or whether a book is available. The student portal answers all three, which is why it removes so much traffic from the issue desk.
Their own library home
Students land on what is theirs — books currently on loan, when each is due, and suggestions for what to read next.
Browse and reserve, any time
The whole catalogue is searchable from the student portal, with live availability and the ability to place a hold. The library is effectively open outside library hours.
Know what is due
Every book a student holds, with due dates and renewal status. Overdue fines stop being a surprise, which is the point.
Track the queue
Reserved titles with queue position, so a student knows whether their next read is days or weeks away.
Parents & guardians
Parents do not run the library and get no separate library screen. What they need is visibility: is my child reading, and is anything overdue. That sits on the ward page, next to attendance, results and fees — one place per child rather than a login per module.
See a child’s library standing on the ward page
A ward’s active loans, overdue books and holds appear on their page alongside everything else the school tracks — so a parent spots an overdue book without a separate app or a note home.
How it connects to the rest of the platform
Students and staff come from the base platform
Borrowers are the school’s existing people records. Admissions, transfers and leavers flow straight through — there is no library membership list to maintain separately.
Roles and permissions are the school’s own
What a librarian, teacher or student can see in the library is governed by the same access control as the rest of the platform, not a second set of library logins.
Fines can meet the finance ledgerrequires School Fees & Finance
Where School Fees & Finance is switched on, library fines sit alongside the rest of a family’s account rather than in a separate cash tin.
Common questions
Do we have to import our student list into the library?+
No. Every student and staff member on the platform is already a potential borrower. There is no separate membership import, and no annual re-import when the roll changes.
Can it handle multiple copies of the same book?+
Yes — titles and physical copies are modelled separately. Each copy has its own location and loan state, so availability for a title is accurate when some copies are out and others are not.
What happens to a student’s loans when they leave?+
Their borrowing record stays attached to their student record, so outstanding loans and fines remain visible and attributable rather than disappearing with the account.
Can students see the catalogue from home?+
Yes. The catalogue, their loans and their holds are all in the student portal, which is available wherever they can sign in.
Other operations modules
Run your whole school on one connected platform
Start with the base package, switch on the modules you need, and give every parent, student and staff member a single place to log in.