Lending library

Books, the people who borrow them, each loan and what is out and when it is due back.

Download 5 KB3 tables, 1 queries, 1 reports, empty and ready for your own records.

Overview

Lending library is for anyone who lends books and wants them back: a school or classroom library, a church or community book box, a club's shared collection, an office reading shelf or a family that lends to friends.

It keeps your books with their author, publisher, year, shelf and number of copies, the people who borrow them, and a record of each loan with the day it went out, the day it is due back and the day it came back. A query lists what is still out by due date, and a report shows each borrower's loans.

Each loan points at one book and one borrower. A book can be lent many times, and a borrower can have many loans, so the Loans table is where the two meet.

In Rutba Data Files it is on the start screen, under ready-made databases.

It suits, with small changes

A school or classroom library
A church, village hall or community book box
A book club sharing its copies
An office or staff room reading shelf
A toy or tool library, with the fields renamed
A family keeping track of books lent to friends

Read on

Tutorial: the everyday tasks: 5 everyday tasks, step by step, each naming what to open.
Tables, fields and relationships: every field of 3 tables, and how they are related.
Queries, forms, reports and print templates: what each one shows, its criteria and calculated columns, and when to print it.

Things you should know

Your records live in one file on your computer. Keep copies: File, Save As makes one, and a copy on another drive or in your own cloud storage keeps it safe if this computer is lost. Close the database before copying the file by hand.
Every change to the design (a new field, a renamed table) is a numbered step that Data Files keeps, so you can see what was changed and when.
Book and Borrower on a loan are lists of names on the Loans form, taken from Books by title and from Borrowers by first and last name. Add the book and the borrower before the loan. In the Loans table's rows these fields show the record's number instead.
A loan is never deleted when the book comes back: typing Returned On is what closes it. That keeps the history the report prints.
Copies is a count you keep for your own reference. The template does not stop you lending more copies than you hold, so check On loan before lending the last one.
A book or borrower that has loans cannot be deleted while those loans point at it.
Keep a copy of the file with File, Save As, at the end of each term or season.

Starting with your own records

Enter your Books first, then your Borrowers, then add a Loan each time a book goes out, choosing the book and the borrower from the lists. If books are out already, add a loan for each with the day it went out and the day it is due.

Making it yours

Every change to the design is a numbered step in Data Files, so a change can be seen and undone.

Set a loan length for each book: add a Loan Days field to Books (14 for most, 7 for books in demand) and use it when you type Due Back.
Charge late fees: add a Fine field to Loans and a query of returned loans whose Returned On is later than Due Back.
Group the borrowers: add a Class or Group field to Borrowers so a school can print each class's loans.
Sort by subject: add a Subject or Genre field to Books and a query that lists the books in one subject.
Take reservations: add a Reservations table that points at Books and Borrowers, with the day it was asked for.

Questions people ask

How do I see who has a particular book?: Open the Books form at that book: its loans are listed below, and the one with no Returned On is out now.
How do I lend two books at once?: Add a loan for each book, both with the same borrower and dates.
Can I renew a loan?: Yes. Open the loan on the Loans form and type the new date in Due Back.
Two books have the same title. How do I tell them apart in the list?: The Book list shows titles only. Add the author or year to the Title, such as Collected Poems (Hardy), or keep each by its ISBN.
Can I lend things other than books?: Yes. Rename the fields in the Books table's design, such as Author to Make, and use it for toys, tools or games.
Why is a book still showing as on loan?: Its loan has no Returned On date. Open the loan and type the day it came back.

Data Files is free

It comes with Rutba Office, with no account and no trial.

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