How to organize books with Positions (Location, Bookcase, Shelf)

Book Tracker helps you keep your digital library organized in the same way you manage your physical one. This is done through Positions, a system that groups books into Location, Bookcase, and Shelf.

With Positions, you can replicate the structure of your real library — whether it’s spread across different rooms, bookcases, or even multiple homes.

What are Positions?

A Position in Book Tracker is a hierarchical structure made of:

  1. Location → the top level, e.g., Home, Office, Summer house, Public library.
  2. Bookcase (optional) → the specific bookcase within a location.
  3. Shelf (optional) → the shelf within a bookcase where the book is placed.

You can choose to use only Location, or add Bookcase and Shelf for more detail.

How to assign a Position to a book

There are several ways to set a Position:

  1. When editing or adding a book
    • Open the book detail page.
    • Tap Edit (top of the page).
    • Scroll to the Position section.
    • Select + Add.
  2. From the book detail page (quick assign)
    • Tap the three-dot menu (top-right).
    • Select Assign → Position.
  3. From the book list
    • Long press a book (or right-click on Mac).
    • Select Assign → Position.

How to create and manage Positions

  • To create a new Location, Bookcase, or Shelf:
    • Open a book’s detail page → tap Edit → go to the Position section.
    • Select + Add and from the context menu chose Create.
    • The new Position will be saved and available for other books.

How to edit an existing Location, Bookcase, or Shelf

You can update the name of a Position in two ways:

  1. From the homepage or sidebar (iPad and Mac)
    • Long press on a Location, Bookcase, or Shelf.
    • Select Edit.
  2. From the list view of a Location, Bookcase, or Shelf
    • Open the list of books for that Position.
    • Tap the three-dot menu (top-right).
    • Select Edit.

The change will apply automatically to all books assigned to that Position.

Why Positions are useful

  • Large libraries → organize hundreds or thousands of books across multiple rooms.
  • Multiple locations → separate collections (home, office, vacation house, storage).
  • Detailed cataloging → replicate your physical shelves digitally if you want precise tracking.
  • Flexible → keep it simple with only Location, or add Bookcase and Shelf for more granularity.

Best practices

  • Start by creating Locations that reflect real-world places (Home, Office, etc.).
  • Add Bookcases only when needed to avoid unnecessary complexity.
  • Use Shelves for maximum detail if you want to mirror your library exactly.
  • Keep naming consistent — for example, Living Room → Main Bookcase → Shelf 1.

✅ With Positions, Book Tracker lets you decide how detailed your catalog should be, from a simple list of locations to a full digital replica of your library.