Most small libraries start with a spreadsheet, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Excel or Google Sheets is free, familiar, and good at lists. The question isn’t whether a spreadsheet can hold a catalog. It’s when the library’s work outgrows one.
What a spreadsheet does well
- Free and familiar. Everyone knows how to use one.
- Flexible. Add any column you like.
- Easy to sort, filter and print.
- Easy to share, especially Google Sheets.
For a collection of a few hundred books that rarely leave the room, a spreadsheet is a perfectly good catalog. Plenty of free templates exist.
Where spreadsheets break down
1. Lending
A spreadsheet has no idea what a loan is. You add “Borrower” and “Due date” columns, then have to remember to clear them on return, and there’s no history of who borrowed what before. Two loans of the same book in one month overwrite each other.
2. Multiple copies
Own three copies of a book? Either you repeat the title three times, and they drift apart when one is edited, or you keep one row with a count and lose track of which copy is where.
3. Overdue books
Finding what’s overdue means filtering by date and checking each row by hand. Working out fines means a formula someone has to maintain.
4. Mistakes
One wrong sort that isn’t applied to every column scrambles the whole catalog. One accidental delete loses a row with no warning. Two people editing the same file at once overwrite each other.
5. Barcodes
A spreadsheet can store a barcode number, but scanning a book doesn’t find its row or record a loan.
6. Privacy
A shared spreadsheet of who borrowed what is personal data in a file that’s easy to forward.
Signs you’ve outgrown the spreadsheet
- You lend books every week.
- You have more than a few hundred books, or several copies of popular titles.
- You don’t know what’s overdue without checking every row.
- More than one person updates the file.
- You’ve lost data to a bad sort or an accidental delete.
What library software adds
Library software is built around the jobs a spreadsheet can’t do:
| Job | Spreadsheet | Library software |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog | Rows you design | Titles and copies, kept separate |
| Lending | Columns you clear by hand | Loans with due dates and history |
| Overdue list | Filter and check | Automatic |
| Fines | Your own formula | Calculated on return |
| Barcodes | A number in a cell | Scan to find or lend |
| Several people | Overwrites | Staff accounts and permissions |
| Mistakes | Easy to scramble | Records can’t be sorted out of shape |
Moving from a spreadsheet to open-source software
You don’t have to pay to move on. Khulla is open-source library software that installs like an ordinary app on Windows, Linux or Android and works offline. It keeps titles and copies separate, records every loan, shows what’s overdue on the dashboard, calculates fines, and prints barcode labels.
It also exports reports to CSV, so the data can always go back into a spreadsheet.
One honest limit: Khulla can’t import a spreadsheet yet. Libraries switching over add titles as they go, starting with the books that circulate most, and cataloguing the rest as they come back across the desk. Our guide to cataloguing a small library shows how.
If you need to compare other open-source options, see open-source library management software, compared.
Summary
- A spreadsheet is a fine catalog for a small, rarely-lent collection.
- Lending, copies, overdues, barcodes and shared editing are where it breaks.
- Open-source library software handles those jobs without a subscription.
Questions
Can I manage a library in Excel?
A small collection, yes: a sheet with title, author, ISBN, shelf and status works for a few hundred books. Lending, overdue tracking and multiple copies of the same book are where spreadsheets start to struggle.
Is Google Sheets good for a library catalog?
Google Sheets is free and easy to share, which suits a small catalog. Like Excel, it doesn't understand loans, due dates or copies, so lending has to be tracked by hand, and it needs the internet unless offline mode is set up.
When should a library move from a spreadsheet to library software?
When you lend regularly, have more than a few hundred books, need to know what's overdue, or more than one person keeps the records. Those are the jobs library software is built for.
Can I import my spreadsheet into Khulla?
Not yet: Khulla can export to CSV, but has no spreadsheet or MARC import today. A library switching over enters titles as they are handled, which is also a good moment to check each record.
Try Khulla in two minutes
Open the demo in a browser: nothing to install, no account to create. When it fits, download Khulla for Windows, Linux or Android.
Want a hand setting it up?
Message us on WhatsApp (+977 981-9102869) or email info@sangamadhikari.com. See contact for what to tell us.