Get help with LibCal

If your space category has public nicknames active, your patrons can browse and search for space and seat bookings on a dedicated public confirmed bookings page. For example, if a tutor schedules a biology study group in Study Room 1, this can help the students in that group find which room they're in. This is also a good option for staff who do not have LibCal logins to look up what's happening in various spaces. No patron personal information is included on this page, unless the patron adds it as part of the public nickname.

1. The booking name displays the public nickname of the booking as entered by the patron.
2. If they did not include a nickname, it shows as Private.
3. Events booked in spaces will show the name of the event.

If you use LibCal's tablet display for spaces, you can additionally view upcoming bookings on the tablet for that specific space. This option works regardless of whether the space category has public nicknames active.

View the confirmed bookings page

There are a few ways to get to the public confirmed bookings page, depending on the booking page style that is active for your site. Remember, the public nickname option must be active for a space category for those bookings to appear on the confirmed bookings page.

Via direct url

This option works regardless of your booking page style. Visit or link to the confirmed booking page by adding /spaces/bookings to your base LibCal URL, for example: https://mylibrary.libcal.com/spaces/bookings

Via the search-based booking page

When using the search-based booking page, if the selected location includes any space categories that have public nicknames active, the link to the View Confirmed Bookings page will display below the search options, toward the bottom of the page.

Via the availability grid booking page

When using the availability grid booking page, if the selected location includes any space categories that have public nicknames active, the link to the View Confirmed Bookings page will display to the right of the search filters at the top of the page.

Use the confirmed bookings page

After going to the confirmed bookings page using one of the options above, you can:

1. Use the filters to browse the upcoming bookings.
   1. Location: Locations with at least one category with public nicknames active will be displayed.
   2. Category: Categories with public nicknames active at the selected location will be displayed.
   3. When: Choose to display the bookings from Today, the Next 7 Days, the Next 14 days, etc. The interval options depend on the booking window limits used for the categories. You can also use Custom Date to select a specific date using a date picker.
   4. Search: Enter terms to search the nickname/booking name field and click the Search button to update your results.
2. If available, click the Info button in the Space column to see information about the room, including a photo, description, and directions.
3. If desired, select the Make Another Booking button to go to the booking page to start a new booking.

View upcoming bookings on a tablet display

If a space uses a tablet display URL (for example, loaded onto a tablet mounted outside the space), you can view the next bookings directly on screen. The tablet shows upcoming bookings regardless of whether public nicknames are active for the space's category. The booking details provided—public nickname, patron name, or patron email—depend on how the display URL is configured. This option is available only for spaces, not seats.

1. Under Next Bookings, view the upcoming bookings for the rest of the day.
   • When a LibCal Admin generates the tablet URL for a space, they decide whether to show no booking details (so, only the start and end time for the booking), the booking's public nickname (if available), the patron's full or masked name, or the patron's full or masked email address.
2. Tap the Show Availability button to check if there are available times to book that day and to see future availability.

3. Select a future date if desired, up to 8 days forward.
4. View the availability for that space on the selected day.
   • Available times are in green and say Available, while confirmed bookings appear in red and may be labeled with details about the booking, like the public nickname. This helps you identify if there is an available gap in which to book.
5. To make a booking, scan the QR code with a phone or other device to go to the space's booking page.