Managing Books and Supplies Via the Book & Supply Hub. This article is intended for Admin. (Read time: 5 minutes).
Last updated 22/07/2024
For the parent's guide to the Book & Supply Hub, please click here.
The VSware Book and Supply Hub is your go-to resource for managing books and school supplies within your school. All VSware schools now have access to this innovative module, which is included in your VSware package at no additional cost.
With the VSware Book and Supply Hub, tracking all the books in your school is effortless. Simply upload your book details to VSware, then automatically create book lists for all students with the click of a button. The final step is to physically hand over the book to the student and mark the task as complete.
We understand that schools approach book rentals in various ways. Some schools need to assign specific copies to students, while others prefer a more flexible approach, ensuring the student has a copy of the book without tracking which particular copy it is. With this in mind, we’ve designed this module to ensure all scenarios are catered to.
While this feature was designed for tracking books, it can also be used to track school supplies, such as stationery packs, workbooks, and much more. It’s up to you to use as you wish.
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User Permissions
- Principal and Secretary users have full access to manage this feature.
- Teachers can see which books their students currently have access to.
- To give a teacher permission to manage this module, assign them the user permission: 'Allow Staff Access to Book Rental Administration' in Users and Groups.
- To allow parents to see the Book & Supply Hub on their accounts (desktop and mobile app), assign them the permission: 'Allow contact access to learner Book & Supply Hub' in Users and Groups.
- To allow parents to receive push notifications about books/items that have been handed over and to allow them to confirm the receipt of these books/items, assign them the permission: Allow contact access to approve/deny receipt of a book/item' in Users and Groups.
Navigating to the Book and Supply Hub
Navigate to it under the 'School Tab'.
Preparing Your Data and collections
The first step is to prepare the data on the books you have and bring this data into VSware.
A collection refers to the number of copies of the same book.
You can upload collection by collection, or you can use our easy-to-use CSV template to upload all book collections together in one go.
Adding a New Collection
- Click on the ‘Add New Collection’ button.
- To add manually, select the 'Manual' option and fill in all the details.
- To add via CSV, Click here to download the CSV template and fill it in. Then upload it back to VSware.
- Click ‘Create new Collection’.
Adding Books to Student Book Lists
The next step is to add books to the student’s book lists so that the books are ready to be handed over.
To add all books to all students book lists in one go, click the 'Bulk Add To Booklist' button. The books will then automatically be populated on all the relevant student’s book lists.
The system is able to link books to student's book lists based on the year groups, subjects and study level that you specify when uploading your book data at the start.
Understanding the Overview Screen
For the collections in the overview screen, there is a filter button that allows you to specify how much info you want to see. There is also a search bar.
To view the stock, or individual copies of each book, click the eye button to expand the list.
Here you can see the individual copies of the book or list of items that have been uploaded.
This view lets you see each individual book, the name of the student it’s been handed over to, the individual book code (auto-generated), the condition of the book, and the status of the book (e.g., handed over or returned).
Bar Code and Scanning Functionality
We have added bar code or scanning functionality to this module. It allows you to print unique VSware book codes that you can stick onto the books. Using a handheld scanner, you can quickly link a specific copy to a student in just a few seconds. This is useful at the start of the year when distributing lots of books to hundreds of students or identifying the owner of a stray book found in a classroom. This is an optional feature.
To print labels, use the 'Print All Labels' button.
Handing Over Books
The final step in the process is to hand over the book and mark it as complete.
You can mark a book as handed over via the overview screen.
Once you do that, the task is complete.
However, you can also do this via the individual student’s profile.
Viewing a Student’s Profile
- Search for the student’s name.
- Click on 'Booklist Inventory' at the bottom left.
- If you want to hand over a book that isn’t on the booklist already, use the ‘Handover New Item’ button.
Handing Over a Book from the Booklist
Go to the book that is on the booklist and ready to be handed over.
Click the 'Handover' button next to the book.
In the pop up, select:
- The condition of the book
- If you don’t need to link a specific copy to the student, untick the ‘Use a Code’ button to skip this step. If using a code, find the correct one on the list and select it.
- You can also choose to 'Add Return Date' if needed.
Finalising the Handover
Click 'Handover Item' at the end. The job is done, and the student now has their book.
If you still have questions, please visit our knowledge base at support.vsware.ie. You can contact our support team via email at support@vsware.ie, via the chat bubble when you are logged into your VSware account or via phone on 01-5549628. Support hours are Mon - Fri, 08:30 - 18:00.