How to manage a study library: seat booking, fees and books

What you need to run a self-study library

To run a self-study library or reading room, you need a seat map for each shift, a monthly fee plan with a receipt for every payment, and a list of who renews this week and who owes money. MJX Library, the library management software from MJX Technologies, keeps all of that in one place, along with a book catalogue for issue and return.

Most study libraries begin with a paper register and a WhatsApp group. That works while there is one shift and the owner remembers every face. It stops working when there are morning and evening shifts, two people at the counter, and members who pay for one month, three months or six.

The two things that go wrong are predictable. A seat is promised to two people for the same hours, and a renewal is noticed only after the month has gone and the member has stopped coming. Both are record-keeping problems, and both are solved by keeping the seat, the shift, the plan and the payment on the same member record.

How seat booking by shift works

In MJX Library you set your shifts — morning, evening, full day, or your own hours — and draw the seat map once. The map then shows which seats are free in each shift at a glance.

A morning member and an evening member can share one seat, because their hours do not overlap. The same seat for the same hours is refused, even when two people at the counter try to give it at the same moment. That single rule is what replaces the argument at the door.

Because each seat belongs to a shift rather than to one person all day, the map also tells you where you have room. An evening shift with free seats and a full morning are both visible on one screen before a new member walks in to ask.

How to set up your study library in MJX Library, step by step

1. Add your shifts with their hours, and draw the seat map for the room.
2. Set the monthly fee for each shift, and create fee plans of one to twelve months, with a discount or a locker where you offer one.
3. Add members. Each gets a member number, their mobile, what they are preparing for, and only the last four characters of the ID they showed.
4. Give each member a seat for their shift and a fee plan.
5. Record the payment and print or send a numbered receipt.
6. Mark check-in and check-out, so you can see who came today and who is inside right now.

How to collect monthly fees, renewals and dues

Every payment in MJX Library gets a numbered receipt that you can print or send on WhatsApp. If a receipt is made by mistake, it is voided with a reason rather than deleted, so the record of what was collected cannot quietly change.

On the Pro plan, reports show the month’s collection by cash, UPI and card, along with renewals, new members, occupancy and dues, and every list can be downloaded as a spreadsheet.

Renewals are where a study library loses money without noticing. A member whose month ended last Tuesday may still be sitting in the seat, or may have quietly stopped coming. MJX Library keeps one list: who ends this week, who has already ended, and who owes how much.

1. Open the renewals and dues list once a week.
2. For each member, MJX Library writes the reminder for you, with the member’s name, plan, end date and amount due.
3. Tap to open WhatsApp on your own phone with the message ready, and send it yourself. Nothing goes out without you.
4. When the member pays, record the renewal and give the numbered receipt.

What to look for in study library management software

Look for software that understands seats and shifts, not only books. A lending library treats a member as someone who borrows a title. A self-study library rents a seat for a set of hours, and the software has to know which hours each seat is taken.

Check that receipts are numbered and cannot be deleted. In MJX Library a mistake is voided with a reason, so the day’s collection can always be explained. Check that renewals appear on a list before they are due, not after.

And check what it keeps about your members. MJX Library stores the last four characters of the ID a member showed, not the whole number, which is enough to recognise the document without holding a copy of it.

How to issue and return books

A lending library needs a different set of records: the catalogue, every copy of each title, who has it and when it is due back. MJX Library keeps the book catalogue with every copy, lends to members with due dates, and works out fines the way you set them.

You can use the seats and fees for a reading room, the catalogue and lending for books, or both together. Schools and colleges with a library use the catalogue in the same way.

A reading room that keeps a shelf of reference books or past papers for its members can use the same catalogue. Each copy is lent against a member, with a due date, so a missing guide can be traced to the person who had it last instead of being written off as lost.

MJX Library is sold on its own, so you do not need any other MJX product to start. It is priced per library, not per member. Every sign-up starts with a 14-day trial, and MJX Library Forever Free keeps a small library running at no cost.

A study library runs on two rules: one seat is never given twice for the same hours, and every renewal is on a list before the month ends. MJX Library keeps both, with a numbered receipt for every payment.