Schools
A School Library Management System, Set Up and Run for You
Koha for primary and secondary school libraries: issue and return with a barcode scanner, a catalogue students search from home or a phone, and nothing to install or look after. Most school libraries are run by one person, so we keep it simple.
What we hear
The problems school libraries bring us
“We issue books from a register, and the end-of-year stock check takes a week.”
“Our library is run by one teacher-librarian with no IT help at all.”
“Students forget what they borrowed, and nobody has time to chase overdue books.”
“Every new school year we type the list of students in again by hand.”
How we set it up
Set up for how a school library works
Whether we install a new Koha, migrate you onto one, host it, or support the Koha you already run.
From a register to barcodes
Your accession register or spreadsheet is brought in, barcode labels print on standard label sheets, and a scanner at the desk issues and returns a book in seconds. Records for most books with an ISBN are downloaded, not typed.
Students and classes, imported each year
The school office sends a class list as a spreadsheet, and each student gets an account in their class. Leavers expire on their own, and loan rules can differ by class, so younger readers borrow fewer books for a shorter time.
Nothing to run, little to learn
Koha Cloud is hosted, backed up and upgraded by us. Overdue reminders go out by email, a stock check is done by scanning the shelves, and the librarian is trained in a few short online sessions.
What you get
Everything a school library needs
| What | How it works | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Issue and return | A barcode scanner at the desk | Seconds per book, and no register to fill in |
| Students | Class list imported each year | No retyping, and leavers drop off on their own |
| Loan rules | Per class or year group | Younger readers borrow fewer books for a shorter time |
| Reminders | Overdue emails to students or parents | Books come back without the librarian chasing them |
| Stock check | Scan the shelves, Koha lists what is missing | A missing-books list instead of a week of counting |
| Catalogue | Searched from home, a phone or a classroom computer | Students find a book before they walk to the library |
| Reports | Most-borrowed books, reading per class, overdues | Numbers for the principal or an inspection |
| Labels | Spine and barcode labels printed from Koha | Standard label sheets, no special printer |
| Price | Koha Cloud Basic, published in US dollars | Three months free, with training included |
Primary, secondary and all-through schools, run by one librarian or a team. International schools have their own page.
Included
What we look after
Register to barcodes
Your accession register or spreadsheet brought in and labelled.
Nothing to install
Runs in a browser on any school computer, tablet or phone.
Stock check by scanning
Scan the shelves and see what is missing.
Search from home
Students see what is in and what they have borrowed.
Reports for the principal
Reading by class, popular titles and overdues in one click.
A published price
Koha Cloud Basic has a public price in US dollars and three months free.
More in Koha Cloud, not in standard Koha
Tamper-evident records
Every book’s movements and every fine, payment and waiver in an append-only history. Any change is detected and flagged.
Audit-ready recordsGate register and footfall
Members and walk-ins check in and out; time spent, peak hours and daily trends are reported.
Visitor managementMembership plans
As many paid plans as you sell, with freezes, grace days, study-only passes and renewals.
Membership plansPartner-library loans
Lend to and borrow collections from libraries outside the system, with agreements, deposits and due dates tracked.
How partner loans are trackedAI built into Koha Cloud
Advanced library automation, with an AI assistant for your staff and readers
Koha Cloud is more than hosting. On any plan, your library can add an AI assistant inside the librarian panel that catalogues, audits and reports alongside your staff. Write to it in English or the language your school teaches in, and it answers in the same language. It proposes; a librarian approves every change.
Copy cataloguing from every source
Give it an ISBN or a title. It searches your own Z39.50 and SRU servers in the order you rank them, then Google Books and Open Library, and brings back the 10 best matches, each labelled with its source. You pick one; the record is drafted for you to confirm.
DDC numbers and author marks
Suggests a Dewey number and a Cutter-style author mark worked out from cataloguing rules and your library’s own convention, for one book or every record missing one. A librarian approves each change.
Catalogue health score
40 checks rolled into one score out of 100: missing marks, invalid ISBNs, likely duplicates, records with no copies. It ranks the worst problems first, tracks the score over time, and fixes them in reviewed batches.
Stock audits and registers
Accession register, stocktake summary, missing items, item history, holdings as of any date and reconciliation, asked for in a sentence instead of built as a report.
Reports on request
Most-borrowed titles, dormant stock, overdues, fines, branch comparisons: 28 ready reports, asked as a question and saved for next time.
Patrons search in plain words
On your public catalogue a reader can type “books on climate change in Urdu published after 2015” or “Agatha Christie novels on the shelf right now”, and the AI turns it into a catalogue search with the right filters.
The same assistant also runs the circulation desk, acquisitions, patron registration, labels and your library's public website by chat, within each staff member's own permissions.
Koha Cloud pricing
Hosted Koha from $30 a month
Or $300 a year, saving $60. Up to 5,000 titles and 10,000 copies, 5 staff and 1,000 patrons, with hosting, a subdomain, data migration, the public catalog, cataloguing, circulation, acquisitions, administration and training. The same price in every country; larger libraries get a tailored quote.
Not ready to change your library system? Put just your catalogue online from $10 a month, from your spreadsheet, SLiMS export or register.
Already running Koha?
We support and fix the Koha you have, on your own server, and train your team in live sessions.
Koha supportMoving to Koha?
From another library system or a spreadsheet, validated and reconciled before go-live.
Koha data migrationYour team needs training?
Private live sessions for your staff on your own Koha, in your working hours.
Koha staff trainingFAQ
What schools ask us
Is Koha too complicated for a small school library?
No. A school uses a small part of it: issue and return with a scanner, the catalogue, student accounts and a few reports. We switch off what you do not need, set it up for you, and train the librarian in short online sessions.
We keep our books in a register. Can that go into the system?
Yes. A register or spreadsheet is brought in, and books with an ISBN get full records downloaded automatically. Entries that exist only on paper are typed once into a simple sheet we give you, or by our team for a quoted fee.
What equipment do we need?
A computer or tablet with a browser and an internet connection. A USB barcode scanner makes issue and return faster, and labels print on standard label sheets from an ordinary printer.
How much does a school library system cost?
Koha Cloud's Basic plan has a published price in US dollars, the same in every country, with the first three months free and staff training included. Installation on your own server, data migration and support are quoted.
Related reading
Background reading
Koha for schools
Is Koha the right fit for a school library? An honest look.
Read the guideKoha data migration
Moving your records out of an old system or a spreadsheet.
Read the guideWhat a Koha installation costs
Self-hosted or hosted, and where the money really goes.
Read the guideKoha in your region
By type of library
Our services
Get a quote
Talk to us about your library
Tell us where you are and what you run today. We reply in your working hours.