Staff Accounts

Staff means library administrator access, matching Django's permission terminology. Employee / Student describes the person's school role, not their access rights. A student can have Staff access; an employee need not have a login. System administrators additionally manage Staff accounts and advanced Django administration.

Employees do not need credentials. Add teachers and non-teaching employees as borrowers with School role set to Employee, optionally assigning a position. They can borrow, return, and browse the public catalog without signing in.

Create a login only for someone who needs to administer the library. The current Staff accounts screen manages those logins; it is separate from the Borrowers list used for both students and employees. A student's existing borrower profile can also be linked to an administrator login without changing its Student role.

Shelf-School uses two related records for people with administrator access:

Type	Signs in?	Purpose
Staff account	Yes	Operates the catalog, borrowers, circulation records, reports, and settings.
Borrower	No	Receives and returns books through the circulation desk.

Staff can always borrow

Creating a staff account automatically creates its borrower profile. If that Borrower ID already exists, Shelf-School links the existing profile so its loans and history are preserved. The Borrower ID, name, and email always match the staff account.

Add administrator login access

Only the system administrator can manage staff accounts.

1. Sign in and open Library > School settings.
2. Select Manage staff accounts.
3. Select Add staff account.
4. Enter the person's name, Borrower ID, email address, and initial password.
5. Select Save staff account.

The new account receives ordinary Shelf-School Staff access. Shelf-School also creates its borrower profile automatically. When a borrower with the same identifier already exists, that profile is linked instead, preserving its loans and history. The new account does not become a system administrator.

Maintain access

Open Library > School settings > Manage staff accounts to:

• Edit a Borrower ID, name, or email address for both linked records.
• Deactivate an account without deleting its history.
• Reset a forgotten password.
• Distinguish ordinary Staff from the System administrator.
• Open the linked borrower profile used for circulation.

In the account list, the person-and-pencil button edits the account; the key button opens Reset password. Hover over either button for its label.

Shelf-School prevents the signed-in system administrator from deactivating their own account through this screen.

Deactivating staff access does not deactivate or delete the borrower profile or its circulation history. The person can still return or borrow books.

Advanced

Advanced (Django Admin) is the framework's technical database and permission interface. It is visible only to a system administrator and is not required for normal library work or routine staff-account management.