Hello!
Has anyone here heard of or used the library system called "Librarika"?
Upon first glance, it seems like it will fulfill the needs of our small church library, but I wanted to see if anyone has had experience with it.
Thank you!
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Replies
I don't have experience with it, although I've looked into it, and it would appear in the 'features' section it has what most libraries need. If one needs more than 2000 titles/items, you would be charged yearly for more records. It would appear the records are held online, not necessarily local. However, looking futher I see many poor experience with it here:
https://is.gd/Pzol71
I've used successfully, Readerware. It is inexpensive and updates are usually free. You keep your own records locally. You can download from the Internet using ISBNs as well as Library of Congress numbers, and from various databases not just the library of congress. There seem always to be issues with these however. When I installed it there was no way to print a label for shelving. We developed one ourselves, This may have been fixed since. Updating your book collection, at that time, also updated your record of what you had with any new edition date (changing what you actually have on the shelf...bad idea.) I haven't been working with it lately, although I have my own personal library data using it.
There is a open source Lib. management software. It is being migrated to "Alma", and that may have all the bells and whisles you need. You might want to look into Koho and migrations to Alma by Exlibris;
https://is.gd/Tll7kR
Hope this is helpful
Thanks for your detailed response! When I click on the link to read the poor reviews, I can't seem to find them on the webpage that pops up. Not sure if there's a different way to link it?
Thank you so much! It looks like Walnut Hills has a 'contact us' messaging option and Smyrna Baptist has a direct email. Are those the ways you would recommended that I could message them initially to get in touch with the librarians?
You could try either or both of those ways. I would call the church directly and ask them who the librarian is and explain your situation. They may or may not give you the librarians contact information. You will probably have to leave your information for them to contact you. The phone number for Walnut Hills is 757-220-5900 and Smyrna is 804-469-9363. I will email who I have in our database to see if they are ok with me sharing their information with you. If you're interested, we also have on our website vacla.org under the resource tab, various library software programs that we are familiar with or that our members are using.
I saw your other question about covering books. I'll send you a reply to that sometime tonight.
Hi Amber,
We have several church libraries that I know of here in VA that use Librarika. I'm sure either of the ones I know about would be glad to talk to you or answer any questions. The churches are Walnut Hills Baptist, Williamsburg, VA and Smyrna Baptist, Dinwiddie,VA. I hope this helps you.
Lee Smith
Director-Virginia Church Library Association
I'm new at this and our church library is small with zero budget. I'm using Librarything because it is free. I've never heard of Librarika, but i may check it out. I dislike how Librarything puts everything together, no matter if it is a book, DVD, or what age group, etc.