Booklister for Libraries

Booklister is free, including for libraries. The tool at booklister.org is the full tool with no restrictions, and it always will be. There is nothing behind a paywall.

That said, I can sometimes set up a branded instance for a library that wants one. A branded instance is the same tool with your library's name, logo, and subdomain baked in, plus staff accounts so your team can manage their own access. It's something I do on a case-by-case basis when I have the time, not a service I sell.

What a branded instance includes

Your library's name and logo become the defaults, so every booklist your staff creates starts on-brand without manual setup. You get a subdomain like libraryname.booklister.org, and a designated admin at your library can add and remove staff through a simple admin console without going through me. You would need to provide a logo image for your library with a min resolution of 3000 x 900 px so that it prints at high quality. The underlying tool is identical to the public one. If the branded instance ever has an issue, your staff can fall back to booklister.org and keep working.

Catalog integrations

If your library wants Booklister to search its own catalog system instead of (or alongside) Open Library, that's possible but it depends on the system. If this is something you're interested in, get in touch and we can talk through what it would involve.

Setting expectations

This is a side project I maintain around my day job. I can't promise I'll be able to set up every library that asks, and I can't commit to specific timelines or dedicated support. I work on bugs and improvements when I can, and anything I build rolls out to the public tool and every branded instance alike. If you're looking for a vendor relationship with SLAs and guaranteed response times, this isn't that.

If your library ever decides to stop using a branded instance, send me a note from the contact page and I'll remove the configuration, staff accounts, and branding. Download anything you still want (saved .booklist files, exported PDFs) before the takedown.

Getting in touch

If you're curious whether a branded instance makes sense for your library, the best first step is a short note from the contact page. No commitment needed on either side.