§ 21 · Services & exit

Library

The library keeps three things apart that people often confuse: the bibliographic record of a work, the physical copies of it, and who has borrowed which copy. Almost every library question is answered by knowing which of the three you are looking at.

What it is for

Running the library from acquisition to clearance.

Who can do it

LibrarianHead LibrarianLibrary assistants

Needed first

Catalogue reference data
Borrowing terms configured
Members — students are enrolled from the student register

Where it ends

Items issued and returned, fines raised, and library clearance decisions for graduands.

Work, copy, loan

Concept	Screen	Example
The work	Bibliographic Catalogue	One record for Introduction to Algorithms, whatever number of copies exist
The copy	Physical Copies	Five numbered copies, each with its own accession number, shelf and condition
The loan	Circulation Desk	Copy 3 is with a named member until a due date

The Library Dashboard with counts of titles, copies, members, active loans, overdue items and fines. — **Library Dashboard** at **Library**›Library Dashboard.

The Bibliographic Catalogue listing titles with author, classification and copy counts. — **Bibliographic Catalogue.** Catalogue the work once. Reference data — classifications, languages, media types — is maintained on its own screen so entries stay consistent.

The Physical Copies screen listing individual copies with accession numbers, location and status. — **Physical Copies.** Each copy has its own life: on shelf, on loan, lost, damaged, withdrawn.

The circulation desk

The Library Members screen listing members with their type, status and borrowing limits. — **Library Members.** Student membership derives from the student register — a student who is not Active is not a borrower.

Worked example

Issuing a book to a student

1	Circulation Desk → find the member by student number
2	Check their standing. Blocked members, outstanding fines and borrowing limits all show here — deal with them before the item, not after
3	Scan or type the copy's accession number. Note: the copy, not the title — this is what makes an overdue chase possible
4	The due date comes from the borrowing terms for that member type and material type. Do not type it by hand unless you are deliberately overriding
5	Issue. The copy's status becomes on loan
On return	Return the copy. If it is late, the fine is raised under Fines & Finance automatically
If it is damaged	Lost & Damaged Items, not a quiet return. The copy leaves issuable stock and a liability is recorded

The Fines and Finance screen listing library fines by member with their status. — **Fines & Finance.** Library fines are a liability that clearance reads. They are not student fees and do not appear on a fee invoice.

The public catalogue

The public library catalogue search page, open to anyone without signing in. — **The public catalogue** at `library.cuo-ss.sektechsoftsolutions.co.ke` — searchable with **no account at all**. An account is only needed to reserve.

Two things at one address

The library host is both the public catalogue (no sign-in) and, for staff, an administrative entry point. Members of the public can search the collection; only signed-in staff see the management screens behind it. This is why the library address is not on the portal chooser — most of its visitors never sign in.

Library clearance

The library is one of the five offices that must sign a graduand off. Its screen is the same clearance queue everyone else uses, filtered to the library's decision, and it is gated by library.clear_students.

The clearance queue as the Librarian sees it, showing only the library's decision. — **Student Clearance, as the Librarian sees it.** Same queue, one office's part of it. See Clearance.

Clear the shelf before clearing the student

Library clearance means “this person owes the library nothing”. Check both loans and fines: an unreturned copy and an unpaid fine are different liabilities on different screens, and a graduand can be clear of one and not the other.

If the library will not co-operate

Symptom	Cause	Fix
A student is not a member	Membership derives from an active student record	Student records
You can catalogue but not issue	`library.issue_items` is a separate permission	Ask for it specifically
A copy cannot be issued	Its status is lost, damaged, withdrawn or already on loan	Physical Copies
The due date is wrong	Borrowing terms for that member and material type	Borrowing Terms under Reports & setup
A fine will not clear	Fines are settled, not deleted	Fines & Finance — record the settlement
A graduand is blocked and the shelf is clear	An unpaid fine, not an unreturned book	Both must be clear