Free library labels online

You can make free library labels online: a spine sticker you can read on the shelf, plus a barcode if your scanner needs one. Print both from a catalog export, in Code 39 or Codabar if that's what your desk already scans.

Print one spine and scan one barcode

Use the code your desk already reads, check one book, then print the cart. No signup.

Open the library spine →

Library label examples you can open and edit

These are real renders from the editor. The library name, call numbers and item number are made up for the examples. Click one and it opens with the same layout and text, ready for your own.

Spine labels from a catalog export2 x 1 in. CallNumber and Author columns. Item barcode2 x 1 in. Library name and the item number as a barcode. Property sticker on an Avery sheetAvery 5160, 2.63 x 1 in. Owner and return line.

Three stickers, three jobs

The spine label is what a person sees. A call number and a name, turned so it matches the rest of the shelf. Keep it short. A thin book has no room for the full title and a barcode on the same strip.

The item barcode is what the desk scans. When the spine is narrow, print the call number on the spine and put the barcode on the front cover, low, or on the back. Two stickers is normal. One cramped sticker that won't scan isn't.

The property sticker says who owns the book and where to bring it back. Property stamps and "return to" lines are just text. Put the library name on a wider label, like the Avery 5160 example, rather than shrinking it under the call number until neither can be read from the aisle.

Sizing a spine for thin paperbacks, or turning the text to run along it, is covered on the book spine labels page.

Print library labels from your catalog export

Most catalog systems can export a CSV. You only need a few columns from it. Here is the fictional sheet behind the first example:

A real export usually has an item barcode column too. Keep it as text. If you open the CSV in Excel, a long item number can lose its leading zeros or turn into scientific notation like 3.12E+13. Format that column as Text before you save, and compare one number with the sticker already on a book.

1. Open https://app.mylabelmaker.com. No signup. It opens on the library spine label with the sample sheet above, so you can see the call number and author filling in.
2. Click Data and upload your export, or paste the rows. Keep the column names in the first row.
3. Click the top line of the label, then Variables, and pick your call number column. Do the same for the author line. Keep the title off the spine if it won't fit.
4. Step through the rows and stop on the longest call number. If it wraps, split it over two lines in your sheet or widen the label.
5. Open Edit row, tick the books on today's cart, and click Print.
6. For the barcodes, open the item barcode example, load the same export, and put your item number column in the barcode as {{Barcode}} (use your own column name in the double curly braces).
7. Print one spine and one barcode. Stick them on a book and scan it at the desk you actually use. Then print the rest of the export in shelf order.

Library barcodes: Code 39 and Codabar

Many libraries still scan Code 39 or Codabar. They're not fashionable, and that's the point. The scanner at the desk already understands them.

The item barcode example opens as CODE128. Before you print, click the barcode and pick your library system's convention in the Format list, for example Codabar or CODE39. Switching a shelf to QR codes or a retail UPC doesn't help a wand that expects Codabar. If you're not sure which one you use, scan an existing book sticker and check the setting in your library system, or ask whoever set up the scanners.

Need a single code as an image? There are separate Codabar and Code 39 generators. The barcode label maker covers the other formats.

Sheet or roll

A sheet is kinder for a volunteer night with an office printer. A thermal roll is kinder for a processing cart. Either one can carry the same call number.

The barcode stock should be smooth enough that the bars stay crisp. A fuzzy inkjet barcode on textured paper is a scan failure waiting at the desk.

What this won't do

This doesn't replace the library system. It won't check a book out, calculate a due date, or talk to your catalog server.

You export a spreadsheet, or type a list, and you print stickers. Patron records stay where they are.

If the barcode number in the file is wrong, the sticker will be wrong too. Check the number against one book before you trust the column.