Last fall, I was desperate for a robust library attendance management system. As soon as I appealed to my friends on Twitter for help, fellow school librarian Margaux DelGuidice immediately responded and recommended we try LibraryTrac. I was immediately sold and signed up right away. Since November 2015, many of you have heard me sing the praises of LibraryTrac, a tool that has streamlined our attendance sign-in process for our library while giving us the ability to not only track student visits but other kinds of data related to student use of the library as well. Here is how Scott Allen, owner and developer of LibraryTrac, describes the service:
LibraryTrac is an application that allows libraries/media centers to keep track of their daily users and why those users are coming to use the library. The application allows librarians to designate reasons for using the library, as well as document what teacher students are coming from. It allows librarians to collect and analyze logged in user statistics. A librarian can view the amount of users over a period of time, in addition to particular days. If reasons for using the library are created, statistics will be generated to show how many users were in the library for those reasons during a a time period. Furthermore, librarians can create scheduled time frames to keep statistical data for by setting up pre-determined start and end times.
Not only can students sign in on multiple workstations with synchronized data, but they can even sign in using an easy to generate QR code. The platform is easy to use, and tech support is always just an email away. My wonderful library assistant, Carol Olson, says, “I love LibraryTrac. The learning curve for staff is gentle, and it’s simple for the kids to use as well.” You can configure your reasons to meet your library’s needs and then collect data on how students are using the library throughout the data. Here is a sample report I’ve just run today that gives you an idea of how students have been using our library since November 2015:
As you can see, the majority of our students (nearly 20,000 since we started using the application in mid-November 2015!) come for quiet study or to work on an assignment/homework individually. This kind of data obviously informs how we will think about student needs for space, furniture, programming, and services in 2016-2017.
Our teachers and administrators love that LibraryTrac provides accountability for student visits as we can easily check who has visited us and when; you can also provide teachers the ability to check this data with a password protected link.
If you are interested in trying out LibraryTrac at no charge for the remaining days of this 2015-16 school year, Scott Allen is offering a free trial at this time! You can contact him with the information in the flyer included in this post.
The Unquiet Librarian 
Yes! I need this in my library for accountability and advocacy! Thank you for sharing.
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Oh my goodness! I so desperately need something like this in my extremely busy high school library. I had no idea such a thing existed. Thank you so much for this post!
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LibraryTrac is amazing! I have used this program for the last three years and have frequently used the data to back up decisions made about the arrangement and use of our library. Two years ago the district cut our library aides and I was able to use the information from Library Trac to prove why we need library aides. The next year they were reinstated. I meet with my principal every 9 weeks to give a status update and use the information from LibraryTrac to show what is happening in our library. Scott, the owner, is so responsive when you have a question or request. I wanted a way for students to be able to quickly sign in without having to wait in line. I asked if he could create a QR code that students could scan to then be able to sign in on their phones. By the next day he had a QR code system in place and had upgraded it so that it generates a new QR code every day so students don’t cheat the system. For the price, you cannot beat LibraryTrac as an information gathering tool.
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