Description

MapArc Library was originally created by Bob Stanley Gardner in 2026. It provides a frontend Librarian Desk and student Library profile.

Key workflows:

Add a book manually or scan its ISBN, including the book language in the catalogue record.
Create 1-100 physical copies in the same Add Book workflow.
Automatically generate a permanent canonical MapArc Library Copy ID and matching QR for every physical copy.
Immediately preview and print each newly created copy QR, or print all labels from the batch.
Issue Book and Return Book are separate librarian tabs. Issue scans the physical-copy QR and student QR; Return needs only the physical-copy QR.
Students verify ownership of their WordPress account email before librarian approval when email verification is enabled.
Approved students receive a permanent Library Member ID and matching QR tied to their native WordPress user account.
Optional automatic issue, pre-due, due-date, and overdue emails use WordPress wp_mail().
Default loan period is 5 days.
Bulk QR label printing can be filtered by added date, title, copy status, location, and print status.
[commons_library_desk] provides the protected frontend librarian interface.
[commons_library_profile] provides the frontend student profile.
Optional MapArc Core integration is feature-detected and non-required.

An ISBN identifies a book title/edition. Lending uses the separate QR generated for each physical copy.

QR image rendering uses the copy of QRCode.js bundled with the plugin. Camera scanning uses the browser BarcodeDetector API when available. For Library QR codes on Safari/iPhone and other browsers without native QR decoding, the scanner uses the jsQR 1.4.0 compatibility fallback. Manual and hardware-scanner entry remain available.

External Services

MapArc Library does not require an external service for its catalogue, circulation, membership, reservations, QR rendering, or camera-scanning code. Email notifications are sent through the WordPress wp_mail() configuration chosen by the site owner. The plugin does not download executable JavaScript from a third-party CDN.

Privacy

MapArc Library stores Library membership details, borrowing history, reservation/token records, email-verification state, and Library staff department assignments in the WordPress database. Site administrators are responsible for configuring retention and privacy practices appropriate to their institution. Verification tokens are stored as HMAC values rather than plaintext tokens and expire after use or timeout.

Source Code and Build Process

MapArc Library ships its editable first-party PHP, JavaScript, and CSS directly in the plugin package. No build step is required to recreate those first-party assets. The bundled assets/vendor/qrcode.min.js file is third-party QRCode.js code used only for QR rendering; its provenance and license are documented in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt.

Installation

Upload the maparc-library folder to /wp-content/plugins/, or install the plugin ZIP through Plugins Add New Upload Plugin. Then activate MapArc Library.
Open the plugin-created Library Desk page while signed in as an Administrator or Librarian.
Choose Add Books, enter/scan the book details, choose the number of physical copies, and save.
Print the generated copy QR labels immediately or use Bulk QR Labels later.
Students use the plugin-created My Library page to view their personal QR and current loans.

FAQ

Who created MapArc Library?: MapArc Library was originally created by Bob Stanley Gardner in 2026.
Does MapArc Library create separate student accounts?: No. It uses native WordPress users and adds Library membership, borrowing, verification, and reservation data to that identity.
Does MapArc Library require MapArc Core?: No. MapArc Core integration is optional and feature-detected.

Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

Contributors & Developers

“MapArc Library” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

bobstanleygardner

Translate “MapArc Library” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

0.12.11

Restored the Safari/iPhone Library QR camera-decoding fallback used by earlier releases.
Native BarcodeDetector remains preferred when available; manual/hardware entry remains available.
No student registration/password changes.

0.12.9

Fixed book editing so Edit opens a distinct pre-populated edit state instead of the Add Book form.
Preserved catalogue search context when opening and saving edits.
Kept department-scoped editing authorization intact.

0.12.6

Catalogue now opens with the book collection already visible in an alphabetically sorted, scrollable list.
Added instant type-ahead filtering: title-prefix matches are prioritised as the librarian types, with author/ISBN/language fallback matching.
Removed the Catalogue Search/Clear submit controls; clearing the field restores the full visible collection immediately.

0.12.5

Added Memberships Approved to individual librarian statistics and Head Librarian Staff Activity reporting.
Uses the existing membership approval audit fields, so no database schema change is required.

0.12.4

Reworked the Library Desk branding as a compact, intentional white logo card instead of attempting transparency on the raster logo.
Reduced the logo footprint and tightened the Desk hero spacing while preserving librarian identity, personal statistics, and the default-loan policy.

0.12.3

Simplified the front-end Library Desk hero so the WordPress page title is not repeated inside the plugin panel.
Removed redundant MapArc Library text from the Desk hero when the MapArc Library logo is already displayed.
Updated the bundled MapArc Library logo asset with a transparent background for seamless placement on the Desk panel.
Kept librarian identity, personal activity statistics, default-loan policy, Catalogue, and Head Librarian Staff Activity functionality unchanged.

0.12.2

Added MapArc-branded Library Desk identity with the signed-in librarian name and personal activity counters.
Added a searchable, scrollable front-end Catalogue tab with copy availability.
Added per-librarian attribution for newly added catalogue titles; issue and return attribution continues to use the existing circulation audit fields.
Added the clib_view_staff_activity capability and MapArc Head Librarian convenience role.
Added a Head Librarian-only Staff Activity tab with per-librarian and overall activity totals.
Database schema version 10 adds created_by attribution to catalogue titles.

0.12.1

WordPress.org Plugin Check follow-up for request-processing helpers.
Documented that helper-level POST reads occur only after their owning admin-post handlers verify action-specific nonces.
Reworked email settings input into explicit allow-listed, type-sanitized fields before service validation.
No schema, authorization, account, catalogue, circulation, reservation, or MapArc Core contract changes.

0.12.0

WordPress.org review-preparation release aligned with the approved MapArc LMS authorship precedent.
Established Bob Stanley Gardner as original creator/author in plugin metadata, readme, and first-party source notices.
Hardened request handling by allow-listing and sanitizing department, catalogue, copy, email-setting, and student-profile inputs before repository/service handoff.
Removed the runtime jsDelivr/jsQR executable-code fallback; camera scanning now uses the browser BarcodeDetector API with manual/hardware-scanner fallback.
Added submission/readme documentation for source, bundled third-party code, privacy, and external-service behavior.
Preserved existing clib_* capabilities, database tables, shortcodes, public IDs, admin URLs, and MapArc Core integration contracts.

Older release history is available in changelog.txt.