We just shipped one of the biggest updates to the book cataloging side of iCollect Everything — and this one is specifically for the people who live and breathe books professionally. Teachers. School librarians. Reading specialists. Media center coordinators. Parents who homeschool and track their kids’ reading progress across grade levels.
Sixteen new fields. Some of them might seem small on their own, but together they turn iCollect Books from a personal book cataloging app into something a school library or classroom reading program can genuinely use.
Here’s what’s new and why it matters.
The New Fields
Reading Level Fields — The Big Ones
If you work in education, you probably stopped reading “book collection app” reviews the second you realized none of them tracked reading levels. We heard you. Here’s what we added:
Lexile Level — The measurement system used by most US schools. If your district uses Lexile ranges to match students to books, you can now record and sort by Lexile score. A classroom library tagged with Lexile levels means a 4th grader reading at 780L can find appropriate books without asking the teacher to check every spine.
AR Level (Accelerated Reader) — For schools using the Renaissance Accelerated Reader program. Tag each book with its AR level and point value. Students can browse your classroom library in the app and find books in their AR range. No more sticky dots on book spines that fall off by October.
Guided Reading Level (F&P) — Fountas & Pinnell levels A through Z. Used heavily in elementary schools for small-group reading instruction. A reading specialist with 300 leveled readers can now catalog them all with F&P levels and sort instantly — instead of maintaining a separate spreadsheet.
Grade Level — Simple grade-level designation. Useful for classroom libraries organized by difficulty, school book rooms, or parent collections organized by child age.
DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) — Another common assessment scale. If your school uses DRA instead of (or alongside) F&P, this field is for you.
Reading Level — A general-purpose reading level field for any system not covered by the specific ones above. Some schools use their own internal scales — this catches everything else.
Library Classification Fields
Dewey Decimal System (DDS) — The backbone of library organization since 1876. If you run a school library, public library, or even a large personal collection organized by Dewey, you can now record the full DDS number for each book. Sort by Dewey number to see your 500s (sciences) separate from your 800s (literature).
Library of Congress Classification (LCC) — For academic libraries and larger public libraries that use the LC system instead of Dewey. Record the full call number.
Fields for Book Lovers and Collectors
Narrator — For audiobook collectors. Finally. If you have 200 audiobooks and you want to find everything narrated by Stephen Fry or January LaVoy, this field makes that possible.
Audiobook Length — Track the runtime of audiobooks. Useful for planning road trips or knowing whether you can finish a book before your Audible subscription renews.
Cover Artist — For collectors who care about the art. First edition collectors, graphic novel enthusiasts, and vintage paperback hunters know that the cover artist can affect value and desirability. Michael Whelan covers, for example, command premiums.
Dimensions — Physical measurements of the book. Matters for collectors dealing with oversized art books, miniature editions, or shelving constraints.
Imprint — The specific publishing imprint (Penguin Classics, Del Rey, Tor, etc.) as distinct from the parent publisher. Important for collectors tracking specific imprint runs.
Subtitle — Many non-fiction books have subtitles that are critical for identification. “Sapiens” is the title, but “A Brief History of Humankind” is how you tell it apart from a dozen other books called “Sapiens.”
Read — A simple checkbox. Have you read this book or not? Sounds basic, but it’s one of the most requested fields we’ve ever gotten. Collectors with hundreds of books lose track of what they’ve actually read.
Donated To — Track which books you’ve donated and where they went. Schools, Little Free Libraries, charity drives. Keeps your catalog accurate even after books leave your shelf.
Why This Matters for Schools and Libraries
Here’s the scenario we kept hearing from teachers:
“I have 400 books in my classroom library. I know roughly what levels they are, but I have no system. A parent donated 30 books over the summer and I haven’t leveled any of them. When a student finishes a book and needs another one at the same level, I’m either guessing or pulling out a separate list I printed three years ago that’s now missing half the books.”
With these new fields, that teacher can:
- Scan each book’s ISBN barcode with their phone — the app auto-fills title, author, cover art, and publication details
- Add the Lexile, AR, or F&P level (whichever their school uses)
- Students browse the collection by reading level on a shared device or the web
- When books get donated, lost, or sent home — update the catalog in seconds
A school librarian managing thousands of books across multiple reading programs now has Dewey, LCC, Lexile, AR, F&P, DRA, and grade level all in one app. No separate spreadsheets. No sticky note systems. Everything syncs between the librarian’s phone, the office desktop, and the web.
Available on Every Platform
These fields are live right now on:
- iPhone & iPad — scan barcodes with your camera, perfect for walking through a classroom library
- Android — same barcode scanning and full field support
- Mac — keyboard-friendly for bulk data entry sessions
- Windows — same desktop experience, great for school computers
- Web — accessible from any browser, no install needed
Everything syncs. Scan a book on your phone during a book fair, and it shows up on your classroom computer by the time you sit down.
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Free to Get Started
iCollect Books is free to download. You can start scanning and cataloging without a credit card. The free tier gives you enough room to test it with a shelf of books before committing. If it works for your classroom or library — and we think it will — the Pro subscription unlocks unlimited books and sync across all devices.
For schools considering this for multiple classrooms: each teacher can use their own account, or a single account can be shared across devices depending on your setup.
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A Note on What This Isn’t
We should be upfront: iCollect Books is a cataloging and collection management app. It’s not a full integrated library system (ILS) with patron checkout tracking, hold queues, or MARC record import. If you’re running a large public library with 50,000+ volumes and need circulation management, you need something like Koha or Apollo.
But if you’re a teacher with a classroom library, a school librarian who needs reading level tracking, a homeschool parent organizing curriculum materials, or a book collector who also happens to care about Lexile levels — this hits the sweet spot. Powerful enough to be useful, simple enough that you’ll actually use it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I track Lexile levels and AR levels in the same collection?
Yes. All reading level fields (Lexile, AR, F&P, DRA, Grade Level, and general Reading Level) can be used simultaneously on the same book. Fill in whichever ones your school uses.
Does the barcode scanner auto-fill reading levels?
The barcode scanner auto-fills title, author, publisher, cover art, ISBN, and publication details. Reading levels need to be added manually since they vary by assessment system and aren’t standardized in book databases. We’re working on expanding the auto-fill data to include Lexile and AR levels where available.
Can students browse the book collection?
Yes. You can share your collection via a web link that anyone can browse — no app download needed. Students can search by title, sort by reading level, and see cover art. The web sharing feature works on any device with a browser, including school Chromebooks and tablets.
Is this free for teachers?
iCollect Books is free to download and start using on any platform. The free tier lets you catalog books and test all the new fields. Pro subscriptions unlock unlimited items and cross-device sync — contact us about educator pricing if you’re interested.
Can I import my existing book list from a spreadsheet?
Yes. The Mac and Windows desktop apps support CSV import. Export your current spreadsheet and map the columns to iCollect fields during import — including all the new reading level fields.