ubuntu-based-kiosk/library

Room for Books: a home library (Koha + the Room for Books site, in Docker)

A self-hosted library catalogue you can set up in one command:

sudo ./install.sh

It installs Docker if it is missing, generates the passwords, builds the images, starts everything and prints the addresses and your login. Running it again is safe; it never overwrites your .env (passwords) or your data.

What	Address	Login
Your library: add books, find a book, people, lending, labels, settings	http://<this machine>:8098	admin and the generated password
Add books (scan an ISBN, or use the phone camera)	http://<this machine>:8098/add/	same login (asked once more)
Public catalogue (search only, for a kiosk or visitors)	http://<this machine>:8097	none

For home use you only need the first address: sign in to Your library, and use the Add books button on its home page. The Add books page has a Find a book tab (title, author or ISBN, with the shelf and whether it is on the shelf or checked out) and a Manage link back to the staff site. The public catalogue exists for a kiosk screen or visitors and does not need a login. (Koha gives its public and staff sites the same URL shapes, so they cannot share one address; Add books can, and does.)

Ports move up to the next free number if one is taken; the final addresses are printed at the end and by sudo ./install.sh --status. Add books is also reachable directly on its own port (8099), which is handy behind a proxy but not needed otherwise.

What it is made of

• Koha: the open-source library system, built from the Koha project's own Debian packages (no third-party Koha images). Installed and configured automatically; there is no web installer to click through.
• Quick Add (quickadd/): a small page that turns "scan an ISBN" into "book added".
• MariaDB: the database.

Needs about 2 GB of RAM and 3 GB of disk. The first build takes 5-10 minutes.

Adding books

Open Add books and scan (or type) an ISBN, then Enter. A USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner works as a keyboard, so just scan.

1. The ISBN is looked up on the Library of Congress over Z39.50. If that server cannot be reached (many networks block port 210), Open Library over HTTPS is used instead.
2. If you already have the title, you are asked whether to add another copy.
3. Otherwise the record is added with a barcode (see Barcodes below), the Dewey (or LC) call number from the record, the item type chosen at the top (Book, Movie, Music, Game) and the shelf you picked.
4. Nothing found? A short form lets you type the title and it is added anyway.
5. Undo removes an item (and the record, if it was the only copy). Freed barcode numbers are never reused, because a label may already be printed.

DVDs and CDs work by scanning the UPC under the barcode; they are matched against what you own the same way ISBNs are. Few UPCs are in the free catalogues, so expect to type a title for many of them.

The page beeps: high for added, double for a duplicate, low for not found. You can scan a stack of books without looking at the screen.

Scanning with a phone camera

Open the Add books page in your phone's browser and tap Scan with camera. Your phone's own camera app opens; take a photo with the barcode filling the frame, and the book is looked up and added just as if you had typed it. In "scan a pre-printed sticker" mode the same button appears on the sticker step.

• It works over plain HTTP on both iPhone and Android: the photo is taken by the phone's camera app, shrunk on the phone, and read on the server (zbarimg). Only JPEG and PNG photos are accepted.
• It reads ISBN-13 and ISBN-10 barcodes, and UPC/EAN codes on discs and games.
• Tips: get close so the barcode fills most of the frame, keep it flat and well lit, and hold steady. If it can't read the photo you are told, and nothing is added.
• A live viewfinder that reads continuously would need HTTPS (browsers only allow that for secure pages); a Bluetooth scanner paired to the phone also works, since it types into the page.

Barcodes: your choice

Barcodes are optional. Open Barcodes and settings at the bottom of the Add books page:

Choice	What happens
Number them automatically (default)	Each new item gets the next number, zero-padded to 7 digits (0000042).
I stick a pre-printed barcode on each one	After the ISBN is recognised you scan the sticker on the book. A sticker that is already in use is refused.
No barcodes for now	Items are added without one; the catalogue still shows them.

Later, in the same panel:

• Give them barcodes numbers every item that has none, in one go, and shows the range to print.
• Print a sheet of barcodes ahead of time reserves a block (say 80 numbers), and the link opens Koha's label printer with that range filled in. Print the sheet, and stick the labels on whenever you like. Reserved numbers are never handed out again.

Good to know:

• Koha's range printer needs both ends to be the same length, so barcodes are fixed-width digits. They are at least 7 digits on purpose: 6-digit all-number Code 39 barcodes can be misread as the pharmacy "Code 32" format by some scanners (checked with a decoder: 7 digits read back perfectly, 6 did not).
• Prefixes (such as HOME-0042) are not offered: Koha's range printer cannot print them.
• Barcode types Koha can print: Code 39 (default, read by every scanner), Code 39 with a Modulo-43 or Modulo-10 check digit (needs a scanner set up for check digits), EAN-13 (exactly 12-13 digits), COOP 2 of 5 and Industrial 2 of 5. Change it under Cataloging → Label creator → Label layouts.
• Koha's own automatic barcode is switched off so there is one numbering scheme. Items added in the staff interface have no barcode until you press Give them barcodes.

Printing labels

From the Add books page, Print labels opens Koha's label printer with the barcode range of what you just added filled in (you may be asked to log in to the staff interface). Pick a template and layout and print at 100% scale (not "fit to page") so the labels line up.

Template	Sheet
Avery 5160, 1 x 2-5/8	30 per sheet; spine label + barcode
Avery 5167, 1/2 x 1-3/4	80 per sheet; barcode only
Demco spine, 1 x 1.5	50 per sheet; call number on up to four lines

Layout	Prints
Spine + barcode	call number (split over lines) with the barcode below
Spine - call number	call number only
Barcode only	barcode

People and lending

Lending is set up for a home library: 3-week loans, up to 25 items, 3 renewals, no fines. Change it under Administration → Circulation and fines rules.

1. Add a person: staff interface → Patrons → New patron → Friend / borrower. Only the name is required; the library card number is assigned automatically (1000001, 1000002, ...). Numbers start well away from item barcodes so a scan can never mean both.
2. Print the card: Tools → Patron card creator → New batch, add the patron's number, Export card batch, template Avery 5371, layout Library card. The card carries the name and a scannable barcode.
3. Check out: Circulation → Check out. Scan the person's card, then scan each book. The due date appears on screen.
4. Check in: Circulation → Check in, scan the book.

A USB or Bluetooth scanner types the number and presses Enter, so it works in all of these boxes.

Finding the books

The public catalogue searches title, author, subject and ISBN, and shows each copy's availability, call number and shelving location.

On the Add books page, pick the Shelf / room before you scan; every book you add gets it. The choice is saved on the server, so every device shares it. If all your books are in one place, leave it on (not set / all in one place); nothing is shown and nothing needs changing. Change it whenever you move to another shelf. The list comes from the staff interface (Administration → Authorized values → LOC), which starts with a few rooms such as Fiction, General stacks and Reference. Add your own there, for example "Living room - bookcase 2". (Koha has no way to add a room from the Add books page.)

Common tasks

sudo ./install.sh --status     # addresses, login, container health
sudo ./install.sh --update     # rebuild with the latest Koha release (your data is kept)
sudo ./install.sh --stop       # stop everything
sudo ./install.sh --start      # start again
sudo docker logs -f library-koha

Settings live in .env (created on first run, mode 600). Useful ones:

Setting	Meaning
BIND_ADDR	0.0.0.0 (default) reachable from the network, 127.0.0.1 this machine only. Docker bypasses ufw, so this is the setting that actually limits access
OPAC_PORT, STAFF_PORT, QUICKADD_PORT	published ports
QUICKADD_SOURCES	lookup order, e.g. z3950:lx2.loc.gov:210/LCDB,openlibrary. Add more z3950:host:port/database entries
LIBRARY_NAME	name shown on the catalogue (first install only)

After editing .env run sudo docker compose up -d.

Behind a proxy or on a locked-down network

• Building behind a TLS-inspecting proxy: sudo EXTRA_CA=/path/to/ca.crt ./install.sh.
• Docker Hub limits anonymous pulls (HTTP 429). The installer retries with a growing pause.
• Z39.50 needs outbound TCP port 210. Without it, Open Library is used automatically.

Backups

Your books live in two Docker volumes: library_db-data (the catalogue) and library_koha-data (search index, uploads). Back up the database with:

sudo docker exec library-db sh -c 'exec mariadb-dump -uroot -p"$MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD" --single-transaction koha_library' > library-backup.sql

The search index is rebuilt automatically if it is lost.

Security notes

• The staff interface and Quick Add are protected by the generated password, over plain HTTP. Keep them on a trusted network, or set BIND_ADDR=127.0.0.1 and put a reverse proxy with HTTPS in front.
• Quick Add uses the staff admin login to talk to Koha's API.

Layout

install.sh            one-command setup and --status/--update/--stop/--start
docker-compose.yml    db + koha + quickadd
koha/                 Dockerfile (Koha from the project's Debian repo), entrypoint,
                      bootstrap.pl (headless install), seed/ (item types, Z39.50
                      servers, label templates/layouts)
quickadd/             the scan-to-add service (Python standard library + yaz)

Signing in once

Staff who are signed in to the library site (and allowed to edit the catalogue) open Add books without a second login. Koha itself confirms the sign-in; the shared secret is SSO_SECRET in .env. The read-only guest login still uses the Add books prompt, and the direct Add books port never accepts a Koha sign-in. If SSO_SECRET is empty, Add books just asks for its own login as before.

The home page (the Room for Books site at /add/)

One address. http://<ip>:<port>/ (and later https://your-domain/ behind Caddy) opens this page; there is no separate port to remember. Koha's own staff screens live on the same address at /cgi-bin/koha/mainpage.pl, reached from the menu (Koha (full staff screens)). Everyone signs in at the same prompt: staff with the admin login, borrowers with their card number and password, the guest with the guest login.

One simple page: a Look up box (books by title, author or ISBN, and people by name or card number), four big buttons (Check out, Return, Add books, Add a person) and Recently added books with their covers. The menu (top right) holds the rest: browse all books, lend / return, people and library cards, barcodes and settings, export / import, and a link to Koha's own staff screens. Borrowers and the read-only guest see just the lookup, recent books and (borrowers) My books.

Adding by title: on Add books, scan or type an ISBN to add it straight away; type a title or author instead and you get a list of matches (cover, author, year, publisher) from Open Library and the Library of Congress to choose from. Books you already have are marked, with an Add another copy button.

Everyday use (details)

One page for the day-to-day, so you rarely need Koha's own screens:

• Library: a cover grid of everything you own. Search by title, author or ISBN; filter by shelf, format (book/DVD/CD) and status (on the shelf / checked out); sort by title, author or newest. Click a book for its page: copies with barcode, status, who has it and when it is due; change a copy's shelf or call number, add another copy, remove a copy, or delete the book. (Title/author edits are one click away in Koha.)
• Lend / return: scan or type a library card number (or search by name), then scan books to check them out; "Return a book" takes a scan with no person needed; Renew extends a loan; the list below shows everything that is out, overdue ones flagged. Check-in goes through Koha's own check-in code, so holds and rules still apply.
• People: add someone with just a name (the card number is assigned automatically), search, and Print card for a library card with a scannable Code 39 barcode.
• Add books: scan an ISBN (or use the phone camera), as before.

The read-only guest login only sees the Library and book pages (no copy status names, no editing, no lending).

Collections, QR cards, more about a book

• Collections (Kids, Cookbooks, ...) are per copy, shown on the book page next to the shelf, and filterable on the Library page. Choose + New collection... (or + New shelf...) in the dropdown to add one: no Koha screens needed.
• Library cards carry a Code 39 barcode and a QR code of the card number. Save as picture makes an image to text or AirDrop to a phone; on Lend / return, Scan card or phone QR with camera reads either one from a photo. Print everyone's cards (People) lays out a sheet of cards.
• More about a book: a description and subjects from Open Library, plus look-up links (Goodreads, LibraryThing, WorldCat). AR BookFind is a link only: Renaissance's terms forbid automated access, so nothing is fetched from it.

Reading levels (AR) and spreadsheets

AR BookFind has no public feed or import, and its terms forbid automated look-ups, so this site does not fetch from it. Instead: the book page has an Open AR BookFind link (plus Copy title to paste into its search) and boxes to record the level, points and quiz number you find there (the read-only guest sees them). Library page -> Export / import downloads library.csv (one row per copy, with any reading level) and imports a CSV of isbn, level, points[, quiz] you made yourself (for example from a spreadsheet or a Renaissance report you are entitled to export). Levels are stored in reading-levels.json in the Add books data volume, keyed by ISBN, so they survive a Koha reinstall and are included in the usual backups of that folder.

Live camera scanning (needs HTTPS)

Browsers only allow a live camera on HTTPS pages (or on the machine itself). Put the library site behind Caddy with a real certificate and Live scan buttons appear: Add books (scan a stack of ISBNs one after another), Lend / return (live card or phone-QR scan, live book check-out for the chosen person, live returns). Chrome on Android reads codes in the browser; other browsers send small camera frames to the server's decoder a couple of times a second. On plain HTTP the photo buttons stay.

Copying reading levels from AR BookFind

On the AR BookFind book page, select everything (Ctrl/Cmd+A), copy, and paste into the box on the book page here: the level, points, quiz number and interest level fill in by themselves; check them and press Save.

Tags, and borrowers signing in

• Tags: any number per book (to read, kids, signed...). Add and remove them on the book page; click one to see every book that has it; the Library page can filter by tag. They are stored in tags.json in the Add books data volume, which the usual backups of that folder include.
• Borrowers sign in: every person gets a login, their library card number + a password. Adding someone shows their password once (a different easy one like maple482, or the same one for everyone: People -> Sign-in passwords for new people). Give everyone a sign-in covers people added earlier; New password resets one person. A borrower who signs in sees the library and a My books page: what they have out, when each is due (or overdue), Renew, and Change my password. They cannot lend, edit or see other people. Passwords are Koha's own patron passwords; this stack relaxes Koha's default strength rule (4+ characters instead of 8 with upper/lower/digit) once, at install or update. Ten wrong guesses from one address locks sign-in attempts from it for five minutes.

Reading levels: pop-up or in-page AR BookFind

The book page's AR box has Open beside this page (a pop-up window next to the book) and Show it here (AR BookFind inside the page; some browsers block its cookies inside another page, then use the pop-up). Either copies the title first so you can paste it into AR's search; AR's own page cannot be pre-filled from here.

Same ports on every install

New installs of this stack use the same three ports whether you install it from the kiosk add-on or from ubuntu-post-install: 8098 is the one to use (the Room for Books home page, with Koha behind the menu), 8099 is Add books direct, and 8097 is the public catalogue, which stays closed. If one is taken, the next free port is used and the installer prints it. Existing installs keep the ports they already have.