Parameters & Setup — System Dates
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System Dates

Defining your library's operating days, key dates and date-sensitive system behaviour

The System Dates screen tells Papyrus Cloud which days of the week your library is open, when new issues should stop at the Front Desk, when a stock take was last conducted, and the dates of your current and previous budget periods. These settings directly affect how loan due dates and overdue calculations are made — items will only fall due on days the library is open.
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How System Dates Affect Circulation

When Papyrus calculates a loan's return date, it does not simply add the loan period to today's date. It takes into account the days of the week your library is open, as well as any public or school holidays defined under Parameters → Holidays. This ensures that members are never given a due date that falls on a day the library is closed.

  • 📅
    Loan due dates
    If a calculated due date falls on a closed day (e.g. Saturday or Sunday), Papyrus automatically moves it forward to the next open day. Members always receive a realistic, achievable return date.
  • ⚠️
    Overdue calculations
    Overdue fines are only calculated for days the library is open. If a member keeps a book over a closed weekend, those days do not count as overdue days — only open days are included in the fine calculation.
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    Holidays
    Public holidays and school holidays are configured separately under Parameters → Holidays and work together with the open days defined here. Both are excluded from due date and overdue calculations.
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    No Issue After date
    The Front Desk will refuse to issue new items after the date set in the No Issue After field. This is useful for end-of-term closures when no new loans should be made.

The System Dates screen is divided into four sections, each covering a different aspect of date-sensitive system behaviour.

Days the Library is Open
Tick the days of the week your library operates
Front Desk
Set a date after which no new issues are permitted
Stock Take
Record the date of your most recent stock take
Budget Dates
Define the current and previous budget period dates
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Days the Library is Open

Tick the checkbox next to each day of the week that your library is open. Papyrus uses this information when calculating loan due dates and overdue fines — only ticked days are counted as operating days.

The example below shows a typical school library configuration — open Monday to Friday, closed on weekends:

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Sunday
Closed
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Monday
Open
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Tuesday
Open
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Wednesday
Open
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Thursday
Open
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Friday
Open
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Saturday
Closed
DayTick if…
SundayYour library is open on Sundays. Most school and college libraries leave this unticked.
MondayYour library is open on Mondays. Tick for all standard operating days.
TuesdayYour library is open on Tuesdays.
WednesdayYour library is open on Wednesdays.
ThursdayYour library is open on Thursdays.
FridayYour library is open on Fridays.
SaturdayYour library is open on Saturdays. Some public and college libraries may tick this.
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At least one day must be ticked. If no days are ticked, Papyrus cannot calculate a valid due date and circulation will not function correctly. Always ensure your actual operating days are reflected accurately here.
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If your library's opening days change temporarily — for example, opening on Saturdays during exam season — update this screen to reflect the change, then revert it when normal hours resume. Remember that this affects all due date calculations system-wide from the point of change.
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Front Desk

The Front Desk section contains a single date field that controls when the system will stop allowing new items to be issued at the circulation desk.

FieldDescription
No Issue After The date after which no new loans may be created at the Front Desk. Once this date is reached, the Issue button on the Front Desk screen will be disabled and staff will not be able to issue items to members. Returns can still be processed after this date.

Leave this field blank if you do not wish to impose an issue cutoff date.
Date format
Dates must be entered in the format yyyy MMMM dd — for example: 2025 November 28
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Typical use — end of term. Set the No Issue After date to the last day of the school term so that no new books can be issued once the library closes for holidays. This prevents items being issued that will immediately become overdue during the break. Clear or update the date at the start of the next term to re-enable issuing.
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This field only prevents new issues. Returns are not affected — members can still return items after the No Issue After date. This is intentional, as you always want to be able to accept books back.
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Stock Take

The Stock Take section records the date on which your most recent physical stock take was conducted. This date is used in stock take reports and enquiries to identify items that were not scanned during the last audit.

FieldDescription
Stock Take Date The date of the most recently completed stock take. This is used by the Stock Take Enquiry screen to determine which items were present and which were absent during the audit. Update this date each time a new stock take is completed.

Example value: 2026 February 03
Date format
Dates must be entered in the format yyyy MMMM dd — for example: 2026 February 03
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Update the Stock Take Date immediately after completing a stock take, before running any Stock Take Enquiry reports. The enquiry compares the date items were scanned against this date — if the date is not updated, the reports will show incorrect results.
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The actual stock take process — scanning barcodes to record which items are on the shelf — is carried out under Cataloguing → Stock Take. Results are reviewed under Cataloguing → Stock Take Enquiry. The date recorded here ties those results to a point in time.
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Budget Dates

The Budget Dates section defines the start dates of your current and previous library budget periods. These dates are used in financial reports to compare spending across budget years — for example, to show how much was spent on new stock acquisitions in the current year versus the previous year.

FieldDescription
Previous Budget The start date of the previous budget period. Used as the lower boundary in comparative financial reports. Example: 2018 March 30
Current Budget The start date of the current budget period. All acquisition and expenditure from this date onwards is treated as belonging to the current budget year. Example: 2019 March 30
Date format
Dates must be entered in the format yyyy MMMM dd — for example: 2025 January 01
💡
Update at the start of each financial year. When a new budget year begins, move the current Current Budget date into the Previous Budget field, then enter the new budget start date in Current Budget. This keeps your comparative reports accurate.
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Budget dates are used for reporting purposes only — they do not affect circulation, cataloguing, or any other operational function of the system.
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Saving Your Changes

After making any changes on the System Dates screen, click the Update button at the top of the form to save them. If you wish to discard your changes, click Cancel — this will revert all fields to their last saved values.

⚠
Changes to the Days the Library is Open and No Issue After fields take effect immediately across the system once saved. Any loan due date calculations made after saving will use the updated settings. Ensure changes are correct before clicking Update.
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After updating the operating days, it is good practice to issue a test loan to a test member and verify that the due date falls on an expected open day before resuming normal operations.