Your Book Nest
A hospice library is unlike any other. It is usually a trolley of large-print and gentle fiction, a few volunteers, and books lent to patients at the bedside. Loans are loose by design - a book that is never returned is not a problem to chase, it is part of the work.
So the software has to be light. It should help a volunteer remember what is on the trolley and roughly who has what, without overdue notices, fines, or anything that treats a patient like an account.
What a hospice library actually needs
The collection leans to large-print fiction, gentle and uplifting reads, poetry, spiritual and bereavement support, and a few reference and activity books. Patients turn over quickly, many are too unwell to manage a borrowing account, and some books move with a patient between rooms or never come back.
That shapes what matters.
- A simple list of what the trolley holds, so volunteers can find a title or an author quickly
- A light record of who has a book, with no pressure to reconcile it
- No fines, no overdue chasing, no patient sign-ins
- Works on a phone or tablet that travels with the trolley
A hospice library does not need MARC records, member portals, or the rest of a full library system. The wider case against that machinery is in what an ILS is and whether a tiny library needs one.
Your Book Nest
Your Book Nest is built for tiny, high-trust libraries, which is exactly what a hospice trolley is. You catalogue the books once, and lending a title is two taps.
You can try the demo with no account and no card, add a few books, and see the whole flow in a minute.
What it costs. Free for libraries with under 100 items. Above that, a flat yearly subscription with no per-volunteer fees.
What you get. A searchable list of the collection, simple checkout and return, and a record of who has each book. Every trolley volunteer can have their own sign-in to the same record, included in the price. There are due dates if you want them and an overdue view, but nothing forces you to use either, which suits a hospice.
The good parts. Quick for a volunteer to learn, free for a small trolley, works on a tablet that rides with the trolley, and never treats a patient as a debtor. There is no public catalogue, which a hospice does not need.
Best for a hospice or palliative ward library run by volunteers who want a clean record without the weight of a full system. There is a dedicated writeup in simple software for hospice libraries, and a practical guide in running a book trolley service for patients.
Librarika
Librarika is a free, browser-based library system used by many small libraries.
What it costs. Free for the core system.
What you get. Catalogue, circulation, member accounts, and reports in one place, nothing to install.
The not-so-good parts. It is built around members and overdues, so a hospice ends up ignoring half the features. Cataloguing is manual and support is email only.
Best for a hospice that wants a full free system and does not mind switching off the parts it will not use.
Libib
Libib is cataloguing software with lending in its paid tier, with strong phone apps.
What it costs. Free to catalogue up to 5,000 items. Lending needs Pro at about $9 a month, or $99 a year.
What you get. Fast phone-camera barcode scanning to build the catalogue, and a clean, readable interface that suits older volunteers.
The not-so-good parts. Lending sits behind the paid plan, and the barcode lookup helps less for the well-worn donated paperbacks a hospice often holds.
Best for a hospice whose donated stock is mostly modern, scannable paperbacks and that wants the nicest app.
Google Sheets
A shared spreadsheet can hold a small trolley - title, author, large-print yes or no, and who has it.
What it costs. Free.
The not-so-good parts. It is all manual, and it gets fiddly to search on a tablet at the bedside. The full picture is in whether a spreadsheet can run a small library.
Best for a very small trolley, or testing before choosing a tool.
How to choose for a hospice library
The deciding factor is not collection size but tone. The tool must never nag.
You want the lightest possible record. Your Book Nest's free tier or a spreadsheet. Catalogue the trolley, log a loan when you feel like it, and ignore the rest.
You want a full free system and will tailor it. Librarika, with the member and overdue features left switched off.
You want barcode scanning to build the catalogue fast. Libib Pro, if the stock scans.
The mistake to avoid is choosing software built for accountability - overdue letters, fines, patron debts - and pointing it at people in palliative care. A hospice library is an act of comfort. The software should disappear into it.
