Program bookings
Story time, Baby Bounce, Lego club, author talks and craft sessions with capacity limits and age groups.
Library booking software: programs, rooms & events
Libraries: programs, rooms and events booked online. Story time without the queue.
Story time is booked by phone, the meeting rooms live in a paper diary, the waitlist is a sticky note and the school holiday program goes up on a poster by the returns chute. We build booking, room hire, events and outreach systems for public and community libraries that work alongside your library management system. Then we host them and look after them.
Looking for library event and room booking software that your front desk will actually like?
A modern library is a lot more than books. It's a kids' program venue, a meeting room landlord, a study hall, a tech help desk, a seniors' social club and an outreach service, all running out of the same building on the same small team. Most of that runs on phone calls, a shared diary, a few spreadsheets and whoever's on the desk remembering who rang about the Lego club.
Wollopit builds custom library booking systems around how your branches really work. Families book Baby Bounce and school holiday programs online, waitlists fill cancelled spots on their own and reminders cut the no-shows. Community groups book and pay for rooms without ringing. Every program lands on one what's on calendar. Attendance numbers count themselves for the council report. We work alongside your library management system and connect where it allows, then host and look after the lot.
01The problems
What we hear from libraries
Does your library have these problems? Here's how we'd fix them.
Most libraries we talk to run brilliant programs on a shoestring. The programs aren't the problem. The phone calls, the paper diary and the end of year headcount are.
- The problemProgram bookings by phoneStory time, Baby Bounce and craft sessions booked one call at a time while a queue builds at the desk.How we fix itOnline program bookings families can make from their phone, with staff able to book on someone's behalf in seconds.
- The problemSchool holiday booking day meltdownBookings open at 9am, the phones ring nonstop and the popular sessions are full before morning tea.How we fix itA booking release that handles the rush, with per-family limits, a fair waitlist and local member priority if you want it.
- The problemWaitlists on a sticky noteSomeone cancels and staff work down a handwritten list ringing people who don't pick up.How we fix itAutomatic waitlists that offer the spot to the next person by SMS or email and move on if they don't claim it.
- The problemFree sessions, empty seatsPeople book free programs and forget, so a full session ends up half empty while others missed out.How we fix itReminders the day before with a one-tap cancel, plus attendance marking so repeat no-shows are easy to spot.
- The problemMeeting rooms in a paper diaryDouble bookings, community groups ringing to check availability and hire fees chased after the fact.How we fix itA room booking calendar with hire rates, community group discounts, online payment and invoices straight to finance.
- The problemStudy rooms taken overThe same students camp in the study rooms all day during exams while others never get a look in.How we fix itBookable study room slots with time limits, library card check and a screen at the door showing who has it next.
- The problemWhat's on is everywhere and nowherePrograms on posters, the council website, Facebook and a printed brochure, all slightly different.How we fix itOne what's on calendar that feeds your website, the council site, branch screens and a printable program.
- The problemEvery branch does it differentlyEach branch has its own diary and spreadsheet, so nobody can see what's happening across the service.How we fix itOne system across every branch with shared programs, branch-level views and staff logins for each site.
- The problemStats counted by handAttendance gets tallied from sign-in sheets for council reports and annual returns, usually in a panic.How we fix itAttendance captured at check-in with reports by program, branch, age group and month ready whenever you need them.
- The problemHome library service on a spreadsheetHousebound members, their reading preferences and delivery runs live in one person's spreadsheet.How we fix itA home library service tracker with member preferences, delivery schedules, volunteer runs and notes in one place.
- The problemNot everyone books onlineSeniors, new arrivals and people with disability need a booking system that's genuinely easy to use.How we fix itAccessible design built to WCAG guidelines with large text, plain language, translated pages and staff-assisted booking.
02What we build
Solutions
What we build for libraries. Usually all talking to each other.
Pick the one that's hurting most or join the whole lot up. Everything is built around how your team works, not the other way round.
School holiday programs
Timed booking releases, per-family limits, child details, permission notes and a fair waitlist.
Automatic waitlists
Cancelled spots offered to the next person by SMS or email, with a time limit to claim it.
Reminders & one-tap cancel
Email and SMS reminders the day before so spots go to people who will actually turn up.
Room hire & invoicing
Meeting rooms, halls and makerspaces with hire rates, group discounts, online payment and invoices.
Study room bookings
Short bookable slots with time limits, library card check and a door screen showing what's next.
What's on calendar
Every program and event in one place, feeding your website, branch screens and a printable brochure.
Tech help & one-on-ones
Bookable sessions for device help, family history and job applications with the right staff member.
QR check-in & attendance
Scan families in at the door or tick them off a tablet, with attendance counted automatically.
Reports & stats
Attendance by program, branch, age group and month, ready for council and annual returns.
Home library service
Housebound members, reading preferences, delivery runs and volunteer drivers tracked in one system.
Volunteer rosters
Volunteers for home library, tech help and events with their shifts, checks and contact details.
An accessible library website
Hand-built, quick on mobile and easy to read, with what's on, bookings and opening hours up front.
03The systems
The big ones
Your whole program, on one system.
These are the systems libraries ask us about most. Each one works on its own. They get properly useful when they're joined up.
Program bookings
Families book themselves. The desk gets its day back.
Story time, Baby Bounce, school holiday programs and author talks all booked online with capacity limits and age groups. Waitlists fill cancelled spots on their own and reminders cut the no-shows.
- Online bookings from any phone
- Staff-assisted bookings at the desk
- Capacity limits and age groups
- Recurring weekly programs
- Timed releases for holiday programs
- Per-family booking limits
- Automatic waitlists by SMS or email
- Reminders with one-tap cancel
- QR or tablet check-in
- Attendance counted as you go
Room & space hire
Rooms booked, paid and never double-booked.
Meeting rooms, study rooms, halls and makerspaces on one calendar. Community groups check availability and book online, hire fees are paid up front and finance gets a proper invoice.
- Live room availability
- Meeting, study and event spaces
- Hire rates and group discounts
- Free bookings for approved groups
- Online payment by card
- Invoices for finance
- Study room time limits
- Door screens showing what's next
- Setup and equipment requests
- Terms and conditions accepted online
What's on
One calendar. Every poster, screen and page.
Add a program once and it shows on your website, the council site, the branch screens and the printed brochure. Families can filter by age, branch and day to find something for the kids this week.
- One calendar for every branch
- Filters by age, branch and day
- Feeds the council website
- Branch TV screens
- Printable monthly brochure
- Shareable event pages
- Add to calendar links
- Translated program pages
- Newsletter sign-ups
- Online and Zoom sessions
Outreach & volunteers
The home library service, off the spreadsheet.
Housebound members, their reading preferences and delivery runs in one place, with volunteer drivers rostered and notes kept for every visit. Tech help and one-on-one sessions get booked with the right person too.
- Home library member profiles
- Reading preferences and history notes
- Delivery runs by area
- Volunteer driver rosters
- Volunteer checks and expiry alerts
- Visit notes and welfare flags
- Tech help session bookings
- Family history appointments
- Outreach visits to aged care
Reports & branches
Stats ready before anyone asks for them.
Attendance is captured at check-in, so the numbers are already there when council or the annual return comes calling. See every branch side by side or drill into one program.
- Attendance by program and branch
- Age group breakdowns
- Monthly and yearly reports
- Room usage and hire income
- No-show and waitlist trends
- Branch-level staff logins
- Export to Excel
- Ready for council reporting
04How it changes
Before and after
School holiday programs, wolloped.
Here's how school holiday booking day could change. Every library service is different, so we map yours first.
Before
- Program goes up on posters and Facebook
- Phones ring nonstop from 9am
- Staff write names into a paper booking sheet
- Waitlist kept on a separate page
- Cancellations mean ringing down the list
- Half the attendance gets counted from sign-in sheets later
After
- Program published once to the website and screens
- Families book online the second it opens
- Per-family limits keep it fair
- Full sessions start a waitlist on their own
- Cancelled spots get offered by SMS automatically
- Kids check in by QR and the stats count themselves
05Services
Everything under one roof
Software, websites and systems for libraries.
Whether you're starting fresh or upgrading what you've got, it's one team from the first sketch to the support call.
Custom software for libraries
Built around how your library actually runs: program bookings, school holiday programs and the admin in between, in one system you own.
Websites for libraries
Fast, hand-built websites that rank for the searches your customers make and turn visits into enquiries, bookings or orders.
Library system upgrades
Running on spreadsheets, old software or a platform you've outgrown? We move your data across and upgrade in stages so the business never stops.
Apps and portals for libraries
Automatic waitlists and reminders & one-tap cancel: customer and staff portals that work on any phone without an app store.
Integrations and automation
We connect Spydus, SirsiDynix Symphony and Koha so information moves on its own and nobody retypes it.
Hosting, support and care
Managed hosting, updates, backups and security for your library, looked after by the people who built it.
06Integrations
Connections
Plays nicely with what you already use.
We work alongside your library management system and the tools council already uses. We connect where they allow and fill the gaps they leave.
- Spydus
- SirsiDynix Symphony
- Koha
- LibCal
- BorrowBox
- Libby
- Microsoft 365
- Google Workspace
- Stripe
- Xero
- Mailchimp
- Eventbrite
- Humanitix
- Twilio SMS
- Zoom
- Google Maps
- PaperCut
07How we work
The process
Some people dip their toe in. We turn up in a rebreather.
We get properly below the surface of your library: the systems, the busy days and the jobs everyone hates. Then we fix the bits that matter most first.
- 01
Think
We spend time on the front desk, in program rooms and with your outreach team to see where the phone calls and paper pile up.
- 02
Archi-tech
We plan it before writing code: your programs, rooms, branches, library system, reporting needs, accessibility, hosting and cost.
- 03
Build
Real engineering, shown to you early and often. Usually program bookings first, so you get a win before the next school holidays.
- 04
Look after
We host it, maintain it and keep improving it. When something breaks you call the people who built it.
08Questions
FAQ
Things libraries ask us.
Something else on your mind? Ring 0423 011 252 and ask the people who'd build it.
Does it connect to our library management system?
We build bookings alongside it and connect where it allows. With Spydus, Symphony, Koha and others that can mean checking library card numbers at booking so only members can book certain programs.
We already use LibCal or Eventbrite. Do we have to switch?
No. If a platform is doing its job, we build around it and fill the gaps like waitlists, room invoicing or reporting. If it's holding you back, we'll show you what replacing it would involve before anything changes.
Can people without a smartphone still book?
Yes. Staff can book on someone's behalf at the desk or over the phone in a few seconds. Reminders can go by SMS or email depending on what suits them.
Is it accessible?
We build to WCAG accessibility guidelines with plain language, large readable text, keyboard and screen reader support. Pages can be translated for your community's main languages.
Can it handle several branches?
Yes. Programs, rooms and staff logins can be set up per branch, with a combined view for managers and reports across the whole service.
Can it produce the stats council asks for?
Yes. Attendance is captured at check-in, so you can pull reports by program, branch, age group and month whenever you need them.
How much does a library booking system cost?
It depends on what you need, so we quote up front once we understand it. No surprise invoices, no lock-in and you own what we build.
How long does it take?
Smaller jobs like program bookings with waitlists can be quick. Bigger systems are planned in stages so you get the first win early instead of waiting for everything at once.
Who looks after it once it's built?
We do. We host it on our own managed servers and keep it updated and secure. When you need something you ring the people who built it.
We already have systems. Can you upgrade them instead of starting again?
Usually, yes. Most libraries we work with keep what's working and upgrade the rest in stages. We move your data across, connect the old and new while we switch and retire the old system only when the new one is proven.
Contact
Got a library problem? Consider it wolloped.
Tell us what's slow, broken, manual or missing. You don't need a spec, just describe what's going on.