For Philippine schools, colleges and community libraries
MARC cataloging.
No server. No internet.
Bookleaf is a complete library system that installs on one Windows PC and serves your whole library over the Wi-Fi you already have. Your students browse the catalog from their own phones. Nothing leaves the building.
Free for 7 days, every feature unlocked. Then ₱1,499, a one-time software license — not a subscription.
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01
Works with the internet unplugged
Not "works offline and syncs later." There is nothing to sync to. Your catalog is a file on your own computer.
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02
Cataloging a librarian can respect
MARC21 import and export, authority-controlled headings, accession numbers, call numbers and per-copy shelf locations.
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03
One-time software license, ₱1,499
No renewal date that can strand your catalog. If you stop paying attention to us, the software keeps running.
The problem
Most school libraries are run from a notebook or a spreadsheet.
Not because librarians want that, but because the alternatives ask for things a school library does not have: a server, a systems administrator, a reliable connection, and a yearly line item that has to survive every budget meeting forever.
So the borrower's card stays on paper. Nobody can tell you which titles never circulate. Overdues are found by remembering them. And when the notebook is lost or soaked, the library's memory goes with it.
Bookleaf exists for exactly that library. It asks for one Windows PC and the Wi-Fi you already pay for.
What changes in week one
- Your existing list becomes a catalog. Upload the Excel or CSV file you already keep. Bookleaf maps the columns and imports every row.
- Checkout takes a scan. Scan the patron's ID and the book's barcode. The due date is calculated from your policy, not from memory.
- Students stop asking "is it in?" They can see availability from their own phones, and place a hold when it is out.
- You can answer the principal. How many books circulated this month, which subjects are dead weight, who has what overdue.
How it works
One computer runs the library. Everyone else just connects.
There is no cloud account, no hosting bill, and no step where your students' names are uploaded anywhere.
What's inside
A full integrated library system, not a book list.
Bookleaf does the things a librarian is actually trained to expect — and does them without a server behind it.
Catalog in real MARC
Import and export MARC21 records as MARCXML, with authority control for authors, publishers and subjects. Nine material types, each with the fields that type actually needs.
Learn more →Circulation with real policy
Loan rules resolved per patron category and material type — faculty borrowing a thesis is not students borrowing a DVD. Limits are enforced, and overrides are logged.
Learn more →Patrons use their own phones
Students search the catalog, check due dates, place holds and renew from an app on their phone. No shared terminal, no queue at the desk to ask "is it in?"
Learn more →Stocktake by barcode
Start an inventory session and scan the shelves. Bookleaf tracks what was seen, what is missing, and what turned up somewhere it should not be.
Learn more →Reports that answer questions
Overdue aging, circulation trends, most-borrowed titles, fines collected, collection by subject, gate traffic by hour. Charts, not just a wall of counts.
Learn more →Backups you can actually restore
Export the whole library to a single AES-256 encrypted file, protected by a passphrase you choose. Copy it to a flash drive. That is your disaster plan.
Learn more →The usual four objections
Every reason a library says no to software like this.
Answered plainly, because you have probably been let down by a system that promised otherwise.
“Our internet is unreliable.”
Then it does not matter. Bookleaf never needs it. The catalog, the loans, the patron app and the reports all run over your local Wi-Fi — a router with no internet connection at all is enough.
“We do not have a server.”
You do not need one. Bookleaf installs on one ordinary Windows PC, the same way you would install any program. If you do not have a spare PC, an Android phone can run the whole system instead.
“We have no IT staff.”
The setup is an installer, an institution name, and an admin PIN. There is no database to configure, no web server, no ports to forward, no updates to schedule.
“Our budget is zero.”
₱1,499, a one-time software license. Not per year, not per librarian, not per book. A 7-day trial runs the full system first, so you find out before you pay.
Compare
Honest about where Bookleaf is the wrong answer.
If you already run Koha well, or you need branches across cities, we will say so. Three comparisons written without pretending.
Bookleaf vs. a spreadsheet
The comparison that actually applies to most school libraries. What you gain, and the two things a spreadsheet genuinely does better.
Learn more →Bookleaf vs. Koha
Koha is more powerful and free. It also needs a Linux server and someone to keep it alive. When that trade is worth it, and when it is not.
Learn more →Bookleaf vs. cloud systems
Subscription systems do things Bookleaf cannot. They also stop working when the line goes down, and bill you every year.
Learn more →Try it on your own catalog this week.
Download Bookleaf and run the full system free for 7 days — every feature, no card, no account needed. If it fits, the software license is ₱1,499, one time.