Self-Service Circulation

The public kiosk at / is the center of Shelf-School. It does not require the administrator to remain signed in.

Photo privacy

Circulation photos are decoded only for the current request. They are not saved to media/, attached to the book, or retained as circulation history.

Check out a book

1. Keep Check out selected.
2. Find the borrower by username or name.
3. Select the borrower.
4. Confirm the due date.
5. Take a close photograph of the copy QR label or ISBN barcode.
6. Select Identify book.
7. Review the identified title and copy.
8. Select Confirm checkout.

Shelf-School returns to the kiosk with the same borrower and action selected so another book can be processed immediately.

Return a book

1. Select Check in / return.
2. Find and select the borrower returning the book.
3. Select one or more books from that borrower's current loans.
4. Select Review return.
5. Check the selected titles and select Confirm return.

Only books currently loaned to the selected borrower appear. The list is also validated on the server, preventing a mistaken name selection from changing another student's record. A return does not require a photograph.

Identifier behavior

Photograph contains	Result
Shelf-School copy QR	Identifies one exact physical copy.
ISBN with one eligible copy	Uses that copy.
ISBN with several eligible copies	Requests the copy QR label.
Unknown ISBN	Requests staff cataloging.
No readable code	Requests a closer photograph.

Manual fallback

For checkout, photo and manual lookup have equal weight on the book step. Select Find manually whenever it is faster or the camera cannot read a code. The filter uses partial matching against title, author, ISBN, shelf, and copy number. Select one exact physical copy, then continue to the normal review and confirmation screen. Availability and borrower ownership are validated again on the server.

The kiosk never displays recent named circulation activity to signed-out users.