Your Book Nest
Patrons don't need accounts - a name is enough to borrow. But when a patron would like to check what they have out without ringing you, you can hand them a read-only sign-in. You create it, you hand it over, and it can't touch your data.
What can a patron see when they sign in?
Three things:
- Their own loans
what they have out and when each item is due.
- The catalogue
what the library holds, so they can see whether a title is worth the trip.
- Their membership details
their name and when they joined.
What can't a patron do?
Everything else. A signed-in patron can't check anything out, edit the catalogue, see other patrons or their loans, or change any setting. The sign-in is strictly a window, which is why handing one out is safe.
How do I give a patron a sign-in?
From the patron's page, provision a sign-in. You choose a username - it defaults to their name - and Your Book Nest generates an access code, such as bounce-marvel-roam, which works like a password but is easy to read out and remember. Hand both to the patron however suits: written on a card, read out at the desk. When the patron signs in for the first time, they're required to set a password for themselves.
No email address is involved at any point, so patrons without email are fully served.
What if a patron forgets their access code?
Reset it from their page. Provisioning again issues a fresh username and access code and the old ones stop working.
How do I take a sign-in away?
Remove it from the patron's page. The patron stays in your library with their name and loan history intact; they just can't sign in any more.
How Your Book Nest handles patron sign-ins
Optional, read-only, and librarian-provisioned. You mint a username and access code from the patron's page and hand them over; reset or remove them from the same place. The patron sees their own loans, their due dates and the catalogue - nothing else.
