Looking for the best apps to catalog books in your home library? If you’ve been organizing your books and figuring out a book organization system, you may now be thinking it’s time to create an official catalog of all the books you own.
It doesn’t matter if you have a lot of books or just a few, cataloging them can be a great idea… and there’s an app that can help. So let’s take a look at 8 of the best home library apps to find the perfect one for your book collection!
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Why Should You Create Your Own Library Catalog?
why is it a good idea to catalog your book collection? Well, there are many benefits to setting up a home library catalog system…especially if you already have a lot of books or plan to grow your personal library.
One of the main reasons a home library catalog is a good idea is so you never forget the books you already have. With all your books in one easily accessible app or document, you can quickly refer to your database when you buy books…meaning you’ll never accidentally buy a book you already own again!
Also, personal library catalogs are helpful with friends and family. For example, if you want to lend some of your books to a friend, you can use a book catalog app to make a note or mark books as on loan so you don’t lose any more books to the lending black hole. Plus, sharing your personal library catalogs with friends and family is a great way to make sure they can gift you books you don’t already have.
And last but not least, having a catalog of the books you own can help you if you ever need to rebuild your library due to some unforeseen disaster. Instead of having to rely on memory, keeping track of the books you own can ensure you remember exactly which books you had so you can try to find them again (and this is a great way to keep records for insurance purposes too!) .
As you can see, there are many reasons why cataloging books at home can be a great idea. so let’s start discovering the best way to catalog the books in your collection.
how to catalog your books
There are a ton of different home library catalog systems on the market, but to help you in your search, I’ve narrowed down the choices to 8 of the best home library apps. these apps are some of the top competitors available now, so check them out to find the best book catalog app for you!
1. library
When looking for a library organizer for your personal book collection, you can’t go wrong with librarything! this is one of the most loved library cataloging apps and at the same time it is feature rich and easy to use.
librarything has a desktop interface and an app, which means you can use and access your cataloged book collection from your computer and phone. And one of the best features of the app is that they have a built-in book scanner, so you can simply scan the barcode on your books to get them into your collections. this is much easier than having to enter books manually using isbn numbers or title and author information (although these functions are also available).
I also appreciate how the goal of librarything is to create a professional quality library catalog for all its users. To this end, they pull data from over 2,200 libraries, amazon catalogs, and the library of congress so that your books are automatically entered with their complete information included (this means you will automatically get information including publication information, dewey decimal numbers, and even the physical height and weight of the book!)
You can also add tags to help you track and sort your books later, you can add reviews, add public or private comments, and much more! it truly is an all-in-one solution for cataloging books in your home library…and even better, it’s free to use. Set up an account and start cataloging your books today!
2. libib
Another great app for cataloging books is libib, which also has a desktop and app interface that you can use to catalog personal library collections.
Like librarything, libib’s purpose is to provide users with a space to create a professional and organized personal library catalogue. With the free standard account, you can track up to 5,000 items in up to 100 different “libraries” or personal catalogues.
To add books to this book catalog app you can enter them by searching for isbn numbers and keywords or you can use the barcode scanner to scan your books and have them autoloaded with book thumbnails, summaries and more . While there are tons of books that will automatically have information associated with them, you also have the option to manually enter the book information if it is a rare or old book.
and when you go into the book, you can add tags, notes, set a star rating, or even add it to a group (which I like to do for book series so all the books appear together in the catalog). Adding this data makes your library easily searchable, and you can find books alphabetically by title/author, by publication date, by tag, or a variety of other sorting methods.
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It’s also useful because you can set how many copies you have of a specific book, list the condition each book is in, and even add how much you paid for them. There are also some fun stats you can explore about the books you own, after you’ve added them to your catalog.
so, overall, this is a really awesome interface for browsing a personal library. Go ahead and sign up to explore this library management app today!
3. book companion
if you’re an iphone user, then another home library organization app you might want to consider is bookbuddy.
bookbuddy allows you to add books via the built-in scanner and also allows you to sync your data across all your apple devices (iphone, ipad, ipod touch and mac). With this app, you can create your own categories and tags for books, sort books by any field, add personal notes, keep track of books you’ve borrowed, and more.
Also, one of the best features of bookbuddy is its location tracking. when you enter books into the app, it allows you to set a location for the book. so if you have books all over the house, you can use the app to help you remember which room you put specific books in!
One drawback, however, is that there is no version of the website…meaning if you don’t have a mac, you can’t access your books from your computer. And another thing to keep in mind is that the free version has a limit of 50 books. While it’s nice that you can try all of BookBuddy’s features without having to pay, just know that if you decide to use this personal library app, you’ll probably need to upgrade almost immediately. but the good news is that the pro version is just a one-time fee, and it’s currently only $5!
So if you don’t need to access your books from a non-mac computer, and don’t mind paying for a pro account, then this may be a good catalog book app to try. check it out now!
4. my library
If you’re looking for an android app to catalog books, mylibrary may be exactly the personal library app you’re looking for.
This app offers a scanner so you can enter your titles by scanning their barcodes, and then the title, author, cover, abstract, publication date, publisher, and any other associated information will be added automatically. however, if you prefer, you can also enter books by isbn number, keyword, or enter them manually.
In addition, you can sort your library by titles, names, categories, whether the book is read or not, and more. there’s also a wish list you can use and some stats about your books!
One of the best things about this app is that it’s free and ad-free, which makes it a nice interface to use and browse. However, there is no desktop version so you are only limited to accessing your catalog book collections from your android devices. but if you want to give it a try to see if it works for you, download it today!
5. delicious library 3
Another one of the best book inventory apps for apple users is Delicious Library, so if you are wondering how to catalog a home library, you may want to choose this app.
This app allows you to easily create your entire inventory and then easily share it with friends! How does the book entry work? Simply hold barcodes up to your webcam when using a Mac, or you can download the additional iOS scanner app to easily scan barcodes from your iPhone or iPad.
Detailed information is automatically downloaded for each item you upload, and you can also start a wish list, add or view ratings, and even get recommendations for other things you might like based on your collection.
If you’re looking for a more “social” experience or are interested in the monetary value of your collection, this app may be a great option. Download the app now to get started!
6. book tracker
Book Tracker is another book inventory app that many iPhone and iPad users enjoy, so it’s worth looking into. it offers quite a lot of detailed and exciting features that can be helpful when building your book catalogue!
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Like the other apps on this list, Book Tracker allows you to upload books using an ISBN barcode scanner. As you upload new entries, the title, artwork, genre, series, isbn number, publisher, and other related information will be automatically uploaded.
The sorting features are also quite advanced in this app, allowing you to sort your database by title, author, copyright, date, genre, collection, rating, format, and more. moreover, you can search for books by its “smart collection” feature, which means you can choose certain rules to filter your books, like “books read in the last year”… and you can even check if there are any books available in your library local!
Another feature of the book tracker that users appreciate is its social aspect, with the “community” feature that allows you to see what others are reading and engage in discussions together. you can also share your favorite books through the app on twitter, facebook, goodreads and email.
As you can see, this app has many additional features… which can be a benefit if you are interested in using all the features! However, there is currently no desktop feature for PC or Mac, so it’s a drawback you’ll want to consider before committing to this app. check it out on the app store now!
7. book catalog
Another android book cataloging app to consider is Book Catalog. This free home library app for android has thousands of users and is quite popular.
You can add books by isbn number or by scanning a barcode, so like the other apps on this list, you won’t need to manually enter everything (although manual entry is an option if you have rarer books).
After uploading your book collection, you can sort your books by criteria such as author, title, series, and more. In addition, this app has a lending feature to help you keep track of your borrowed books, syncs with Goodreads, and allows you to place books on multiple “shelves.”
Unfortunately, there is no desktop version, so this app is not for everyone. but if you don’t need that functionality, give this app a try and start building your personal library database!
8. good reads
When talking about the best book library apps, I would be remiss not to mention the good reads. You probably already use goodreads in your daily life when looking for new books or summaries, but it’s also possible to use goodreads to keep track of your book collection.
goodreads’ tracking features revolve around their “shelves” system, and if you already have a goodreads account, you’ll know that they offer three shelves to get you started: “read”, “currently reading” and “want to read”. .” but you can also add additional shelves, and that’s where the home library database functionality comes in!
If you want to keep track of the books you own on goodreads, you can create a large shelf called “personal library”, “home library”, “own books” or any other name you like. then all you have to do is search goodreads for the books you own (using the search bar or using the scanner in the goodreads app) and add these books to your goodreads home library.
It’s pretty easy to add books to your shelves. however, goodreads is not a dedicated home library management system, which means some of the features you might want are missing. for example, the classification mechanisms are not as easy or detailed to use in goodreads when considered in conjunction with the classification capabilities of other cataloging applications such as librarything. It’s also not easy to track if you lend books, it’s not particularly easy to keep track of where you put various books around your house, and it doesn’t give you extra fields to keep track of other items related to the condition of your books, cost, etc. .
so when wondering how to make library systems work well, I don’t really recommend goodreads simply because it’s a bit more complicated than other solutions on this list. I still really like Good Reads as a method of keeping track of your reading, but when it comes to keeping track of your home library, it just doesn’t stack up as well as other options on the market.
what is the best app to catalog books?
Now that we’ve covered all the pros and cons of some of the best book cataloging apps, which one is the best to use? this is a difficult question to answer, because it can vary depending on your specific needs. however, I generally recommend libib or librarything.
These two cataloging apps are easy to use, professional, and designed specifically with home libraries in mind. its range of features is virtually unmatched and it also works on any device: mac, pc, iphone, ipad and all android devices.
so if you ask “how do I catalog my personal library?” and feel overwhelmed by all the options, I definitely recommend checking out libib and librarything first. Chances are one of these two apps will fit your needs, but if not, you can check out some of the other options we discussed today to help you find the perfect fit for your personal library cataloging.
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