Library Loans and Due Dates Tracker

Who this is for

Every library book in the house, and when each one is due. One row per loan records who borrowed it and from which library, the date it was borrowed and the date it is due, and the days left are counted from today so the ones to renew or return stand out.

Households where several people borrow from more than one library — a children's library, the school library, the town library, an audiobook app — and the books end up under beds.

What this helps you track

• Which books are out, who borrowed them and from where
• When each one is due and how many days are left
• Which have been renewed already
• Which have been returned, so the row can be ignored
• The one that is due soonest, for the next trip

How to use it

1. Write the household and the date at the top.
2. Add a row for each item when it comes home: title, borrower, library and the borrowed and due dates from the receipt or the app.
3. The days-left column is worked out from today in the browser and the workbook; on paper, write it in when you check.
4. Tick renewed when you renew and change the due date to the new one; tick returned when it goes back.
5. Before a trip to the library, read down the unticked rows and take everything with few days left.
6. Clear the returned rows at the end of the month, or leave them as a record of what was read.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Does it tell me the loan period or the fines?

No. Loan periods, renewals allowed and any charges are set by each library; the sheet takes the due date the library gives you and counts down to it.

How does days left work once a book is overdue?

It goes negative and keeps going. The summary shows the smallest figure on the sheet — the soonest due, or the most overdue — so an overdue book is hard to miss.

Do returned books affect the soonest-due figure?

Yes, if their rows are left in with old dates. Delete returned rows in the browser or the workbook once a month, or update the due date, so the figure only counts books still out.

Is this a reading log?

No. The reading log records what was read and what you thought of it. This one is about what has to go back, and when.