Features · Circulation
Policy your library can actually express.
Most small systems give you one loan period and one fine rate for everybody. Real libraries do not work that way, and pretending otherwise pushes the exceptions back onto the librarian's memory.
The rules matrix
Loan rules resolved per patron category × material type
Bookleaf resolves the applicable rule from two dimensions — who is borrowing, and what they are borrowing. Either dimension can be a wildcard, so you write specific rules only where you need them and let one fallback cover the rest. This is the same model Koha and Evergreen use.
| Patron | Material | Loan period | Renewals | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student | Book | 7 days | 2 | 3 |
| Student | Audiovisual | 2 days | 0 | 1 |
| Faculty | Book | 30 days | 4 | 10 |
| Faculty | Thesis | 3 days | 0 | 2 |
| ANY | ANY | 7 days | 2 | 3 |
An example, not a default. The last row is the wildcard fallback — a fresh install starts with only that one, seeded from your global settings, so nothing behaves surprisingly on day one.
Enforcement
Limits that are actually checked
A borrowing limit that is written down but never enforced is a suggestion. Bookleaf blocks a checkout that would exceed the patron's cap and states the reason at the desk, rather than letting it through and creating a problem for whoever does the annual reconciliation.
Two caps apply: an overall limit for the patron category, and an optional sub-limit for a specific material type. A student can be allowed three items in total but only one DVD.
You can also block borrowing once a patron's unpaid fines pass a threshold you set. It is off by default — set it to zero and it stays off.
At the desk
Checkout, return, renew
Barcode-driven checkout
Scan the patron's ID, scan the item. The due date comes from the resolved rule, and a per-item loan period override on the record takes precedence when one is set.
Fines calculated on return
Overdue days are counted against the policy that applied, after any grace period, and recorded against the borrow. The patron sees the balance in their own app.
Renewals with a cap
Patrons can renew from their phone until the cap for their category is reached. The librarian never has to be the one to say "that is your third time".
Holds on what is out
A patron places a hold on a title that is checked out, and the queue decides who gets the next copy back. The waiting list stops living on a sticky note.
Last-copy races handled
Two staff checking out the last copy at the same moment is a real event on a busy morning. The claim is atomic, so one succeeds and the other is told, cleanly.
Lost and damaged
Mark a copy lost or damaged and it stops being offered for loan, while the title and its borrowing history stay intact for the record.
Try it on your own catalog this week.
Download Bookleaf and run the full system free for 7 days — every feature, no card, no account needed. If it fits, the software license is ₱1,499, one time.