Kolab Library · Bibliotek In build
Know who has it. Get it back politely.
Kolab Library replaces the exercise book with a catalogue, a member register and a loans desk that works in two scans. Built for school and community libraries first, the same engine lends tools, toys, lab kits and event equipment.
- Loans and returns in two scans: the item, the card, done
- Polite WhatsApp reminders in English, French or Kreol Morisien
- Reservations, renewals and fair waitlists for the popular titles
- Shelf audits that find the missing atlas before December does
Made for
The exercise book was never a system
Every school library in Mauritius runs on an exercise book and trust. Who has the book, since when, and where did the atlas go in December? The librarian is a teacher with twenty minutes a day, the community library cannot chase anyone without an awkward conversation, and the tool store at the workshop bleeds spanners because nothing writes down who took what.
Bibliotek writes it down, then does the chasing for you. Books enter the catalogue with one ISBN scan, covers included; everything else gets a photo and a QR label. A loan is two scans at the desk, the due date comes from the item type, and when the date approaches a polite WhatsApp goes out in the borrower's language. The librarian gets the twenty minutes back.
The engine does not care whether the item is a novel, a torque wrench or a badminton racquet. Item types set the rules: loan length, renewals, deposits, who may borrow. So the college's two libraries, the science lab kits and the maintenance tool store can run on one system, with items transferable between branches and every tier priced per branch with unlimited members and items.
Assembled from bricks that already work
Bibliotek is in build, but its parts are not imagined. It generalises registry and lending code that runs today into one lending engine.
- The QR asset register brick is built: printable labels, photos and a movement ledger that already answers who took what, when
- The member register brick is built: people, guardians, dues and printable lists
- Per-minute equipment lending runs inside a working maker-space platform; Bibliotek borrows its patterns for due dates, deposits and QR cards
- Reminders reuse the platform WhatsApp channel and the recall patterns proven in our practice software
Modules
Everything inside Kolab Library
Every module is a brick. Start with what hurts most, snap on the rest when you are ready.
Catalogue
Books by ISBN scan with covers fetched for you; any other item with a photo and a printed QR label.
Members
Pupils, staff, villagers or crew, with guardians attached for minors, from the member register brick.
Loans & returns
Scan the item, scan the card, done. Due dates set by item type, no writing, no queue at the desk.
Reservations & waitlists
The popular title queues fairly. When it comes back, the next reserver gets a WhatsApp.
Renewals
One tap for the borrower, rules per item type, and blocked automatically when someone is waiting.
Gentle chasing
Due-soon and overdue WhatsApp reminders written politely, in the borrower's language, never shaming a child.
Fines & deposits
Optional, in rupees, receipted, with amnesty days a librarian can declare when kindness works better.
Shelf audits
Walk the shelf scanning. What should be there but is not surfaces as a list instead of vanishing quietly.
Reading programmes
School reading challenges with Boost: books read become points, badges and class leaderboards that celebrate readers.
Digital shelf
PDFs, past papers and links catalogued beside the physical stock, searchable in the same place.
Multi-branch
The college's two libraries and the tool store on one system, with items transferable between branches.
Reports
Most borrowed, never borrowed, loss rates and member activity, in plain words a committee understands.
A closer look
How Kolab Library feels day to day
Two scans and the book is out
A loan is the item's QR, then the member's card, and the due date sets itself from the item type. The board shows every open loan at a glance, so the teacher-librarian clears the morning rush inside their twenty minutes.
- Due dates per item type: a week for novels, a day for past papers, an afternoon for tools
- Returns are one scan, with condition noted when it matters
- Overdue rows turn red on the board, not in front of the queue
Their loans, on their phone
Members see what they have out, when it is due, and where they stand in the queue for the title everyone wants. Renewing is one tap when the rules allow it. No smartphone? The printed card and the desk do everything.
- Renew in one tap, blocked politely when someone waits
- Reservation queue position shown honestly, no mystery
- Reading streak and badges for pupils who opt in
Reminders that never shame a child
The system does the awkward part. Due-soon and overdue messages go out on WhatsApp, written politely in the borrower's language, to the guardian when the borrower is a minor. The village librarian never has to knock on a door.
- Due-soon nudge before the date, overdue follow-up after, both courteous
- Minors are chased through guardians, never directly and never publicly
- Replies land back at the desk, so a renewal request is one message away
Turn a term into a reading challenge
With Boost, books read become points, badges and class leaderboards. Classes compete together, keen readers collect badges, and the reluctant reader is never ranked in public: they see their own progress and nobody else sees their place.
- Class totals lead the board, so reading is a team sport
- Badges for streaks, genres and firsts, in three languages
- Librarian confirms each finished book in one tap at the desk
Local by design
Built for how Mauritius lends
A school library run in stolen minutes, three reading languages, exam season, and a cyclone calendar. Bibliotek starts from here.
The twenty-minute librarian
Most school libraries are run by one dedicated teacher between classes. Two-scan loans and automatic chasing give the minutes back to the books.
Reading in three languages
The catalogue speaks English, French and Kreol Morisien, and reading programmes celebrate books in all three equally.
Exam season
Past papers and textbooks surge before exams. Short loan types, waitlists and the digital shelf keep them moving instead of missing.
Village libraries and book clubs
Community lending runs on goodwill. Polite automatic reminders protect the goodwill, and pricing is per branch, never per member.
DPA 2017, minors first
Guardian consent for children, minimal data collected, reminders through guardians, and no public overdue lists, ever.
Cyclone season
Run a shelf audit before the season and know exactly what you own, with photos and a ledger, before the weather tests the roof.
Boost in Kolab Library
Boost celebrates the behaviours a lending system lives on: reading, returning and keeping the register true.
Reading streaks for pupils
Books read become points and badges, class totals lead the board, and a reluctant reader is never ranked publicly.
Audit streaks for librarians
A full-shelf audit completed on schedule builds a streak, so the stocktake becomes a habit instead of a December dread.
On-time returns for crews
In tool mode, crews build tool-returned-on-time streaks, and the store keeper finally has a good word for the tidy ones.
In the wild
What it looks like in real businesses
Loans went from a queue at the desk to two scans, and the December stocktake stopped being archaeology: the audit list said exactly which twelve books were missing and who had them last.
Polite WhatsApp reminders in Kreol brought the books home without one awkward conversation. The committee's loss report went from a shrug to a number.
Every spanner carries a QR and the crew signs tools out in seconds at a wall tablet. The monthly bleed of small tools stopped the week the ledger started.
Pricing
Kolab Library pricing, in rupees
Indicative launch pricing, per branch per month, VAT excluded. Unlimited members and unlimited items at every tier, and nothing is charged before general availability.
Bibliotek Solo
One library, written down at last.
- One branch, unlimited members and items
- Catalogue with ISBN scan and QR labels
- Loans, returns and renewals
- Due-soon and overdue WhatsApp reminders
Bibliotek Lekol
The school library, running itself.
- Everything in Solo
- Reservations, waitlists and reading programmes
- Digital shelf for PDFs and past papers
- Shelf audits with missing-item reports
Bibliotek Group
Libraries, labs and tool stores, one system.
- Everything in Lekol
- Multi-branch with item transfers
- Tool and equipment mode with deposits
- API access and priority support
Prices per person per month, VAT excluded. Annual billing takes two months off. Indicative pricing: nothing is charged before general availability, and pilot customers lock their launch price for two years.
Questions
Asked all the time
Is Bibliotek only for books?
Will there be a free tier for village libraries and book clubs?
Do borrowers need smartphones?
How do you protect children's data?
Are fines compulsory?
How do we get our existing stock in?
Family
More from Kolab Operations
Kolab Digital Forms
FormilerRetire the carbon-copy book. Build any form, capture it offline with photos and signatures, route it for approval, keep the register.
Kolab iQ
Smart queuesVirtual queues for every vertical: supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, clinics and counters. Scan at the door, shop while you wait, arrive when it is your turn.
Kolab FieldWork
TerenProof-of-visit for mobile teams. GPS-stamped check-ins, route sheets and job photos, even without signal.
Put the exercise book in the archive
Bibliotek is in build, assembled from bricks that already work. Founding libraries shape the details and lock the founding rate.