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User roles and permissions

Librario uses a role-based permission system to control access to features and data. All users can search the library and read publications. They can borrow copies when self-service borrowing is on, and request copies on plans that include loan requests. On top of this there are two special roles: librarians manage the publication holdings and loans, and administrators can also manage users and the account settings. New users, including those created through single sign-on, start without a role and have basic access. You assign roles when you create or edit a person, with the Librarian and Admin switches under Roles & permissions. If neither switch is on, the person has basic access, and their profile shows Without role.

Loan requests, advanced task management and single sign-on are options on our custom plans (compare plans).

Which role for whom?

Many companies have no librarian of their own. One person looks after the library alongside their main job, often with help from student assistants or an office assistant. A typical setup:

Who Role What they can do with it
The person responsible for the library Administrator Create users, assign roles, manage account settings and the subscription. They already have every librarian right and don’t need the second switch.
Student assistants or an office assistant who add publications and handle loan requests Librarian Maintain the holdings without changing users or account settings
Everyone else None (basic access) Search, read, borrow or request copies (depending on account settings and plan) and create their own collections

Whoever sets up single sign-on also needs the administrator role.

Librarians can also delete

There is no role that can edit publications but not delete them. Librarians can delete any publication, file, hard copy or collection, and deleting a publication cannot be undone. Before you give student assistants or office assistants this role, show them how to maintain the holdings.

Basic access

Every user gets these basic rights:

Publications

Files

  • View and download all PDFs and other files

Hard copies

  • See availability and locations
  • Borrow available copies (except reference-only copies) when self-service borrowing is on
  • Return their own loans
  • View the QR codes of hard copies

Collections

  • View all collections
  • Create their own collections
  • Edit their own collections and collections they have editing rights for; delete their own collections
  • Add publications to and remove them from their own collections
  • Add users to and remove them from their own collections

Profile

  • View and edit their own profile
  • Change their own password (unless disabled by SSO)
  • View other users’ profiles

Task management

  • Create new loan requests (on plans that include loan requests) and error reports
  • View their own loan requests and error reports, on the publication page and in the My loan requests overview
  • Withdraw their own open loan requests
  • Add to or correct the description of their own error reports afterwards

Users also reach the Kanban board through Tasks in the top navigation. It shows them only their own error reports and loan requests. Quality reviews are reserved for librarians and admins.

Librarian

On top of basic access, a librarian can:

Publications

  • Create new publications
  • Edit or delete existing publications
  • Manage categories and keywords

Files

  • Upload new files
  • Edit or delete existing files

Hard copies

  • Create new hard copies
  • Edit or delete existing hard copies
  • Borrow and return on behalf of other users, even when self-service borrowing is off
  • Manage locations

Collections

  • Edit and delete all collections
  • Add users to and remove them from all collections
  • Add publications to and remove them from all collections

Task management

  • View the Kanban board and edit all tasks
  • Be assigned tasks (only librarians and admins can be assignees)
  • Request and carry out quality reviews (on plans with advanced task management)
  • Place loan requests on behalf of other users, and edit loan requests and error reports
  • Define and maintain recurring tasks (on plans with advanced task management)

Administrator

On top of librarian access, an administrator can:

User management

  • Create new users
  • Edit or delete existing users
  • Assign and revoke roles
  • Reset passwords

Account management

  • Edit the general account information
  • Configure account settings, for example self-service borrowing, automatic task assignment and AI assistants (MCP)
  • Manage SSO settings (on plans with single sign-on)

See account settings for more details.

Subscription

  • View the current subscription and invoices
  • Change plan (if the current plan allows it)