Lending from the phone
Record who has a copy before they leave with it, and see what is out and what you have borrowed.
Lending a copy at the door
Lending happens when somebody is standing in front of you holding your book, which is rarely next to a computer. Under Lending on the book’s detail screen, "Lend this copy" records who has it before they leave with it.
- Choose "Lend this copy". Where your Library holds more than one and more than one is free, the app asks which copy is going first.
- Type the borrower’s name — that is the only thing it needs. An email or phone is optional, for following up.
- Choose when you would like it back — no date, two weeks, a month, or three months — then "Lend it".
The copy then reads as out: the Lending section names who has it and since when, and flags it once it is past due. When it comes back, "Mark returned" on that loan closes it — the app asks first, and the copy reads as on the shelf again. Only that copy changes; another copy of the same book stays available.
The phone records a loan to someone by name. Lending to another AllMyBooks account holder — so it appears under their own "Borrowed by me" — is done on the website, as is tiny-library patron checkout.
Lending and marking returned are available to Library admins and members. Guests see no lending section at all — neither the controls nor who has borrowed what. Both need a signal: a loan is a record of where somebody else’s property went, so it is never queued for later.
What’s out, and what you’re holding
Loans, under More on the Library tab, opens both directions of lending at once. While a loan is overdue, More itself says how many are. "On loan from this Library" lists every copy currently out, overdue ones first and flagged, each with who has it, when it went, and when it is due back. "Borrowed by me" lists the books other Libraries have lent to you, named with the Library they belong to and marked not owned — they are never counted as yours. Tap any row to open the book.
When something is overdue, the Loans row says how many; when nothing is, it says nothing. Each loan offers "Mark returned" — the app asks first — and, where the borrower has their own AllMyBooks account, a "Nudge" that drops a reminder into their inbox on the site. A borrower recorded by name only has no inbox, so no in-app nudge is offered for them — a tiny library can email such a patron instead (see the patron checkout section).
The Library’s lent-out list is shown to Library admins and members. A Guest sees only "Borrowed by me", and the Loans row appears for them only while they are holding a borrowed book. Without a signal the screen shows the lists as they were last loaded, and both actions wait until you are back online — nothing is queued.