How to use Spine Scanner
From shelf photo to spreadsheet in five steps.
Taking good photos
Do
- Stand straight in front of the shelf, camera level with the spines.
- Fill the frame with one shelf or section at a time.
- Turn on the lights — bright, even light reads best.
- Hold steady and let the camera focus before tapping.
Skip
- Angled or tilted shots — the ends get distorted.
- Whole bookcases from across the room; spines get too small.
- Glare from a window or flash washing out titles.
- Blurry shots — a fuzzy title can't be read.
The five steps
- Upload one photo per shelf (add several at once if you like).
- Tap Scan spines and wait a few seconds per photo.
- Review the table that appears.
- Fix any flagged rows — the "Confidence notes" column tells you what to check. A flag is a heads-up, not an error.
- Tap Download CSV to save your catalog.
What to expect: titles and authors are read straight from the spines and come through reliably. ISBN, publisher, and year are looked up automatically — most well-known titles fill in, and rarer ones may not. Everything is editable before you export.
Uploading your CSV to Google Drive
Turn the downloaded file into a Google Sheet you can sort and share.
Where's the file? When you tapped Download CSV, it saved to your device's Downloads folder, named something like library-catalog-2026-08-06.csv.
Turn it into a Google Sheet
- Go to drive.google.com and sign in with your school Google account.
- Click New → File upload (top-left), then choose your CSV from Downloads.
- Double-click the uploaded file in Drive to open a preview.
- Click Open with Google Sheets at the top. Google converts it into a spreadsheet — each book on its own row.
- Done. Google saves it to your Drive. Click the title top-left to rename it.
Good to know
- Columns are already set up: Title, Author, ISBN, Publisher, Year, your Notes, plus a "Needs review" flag and reason.
- Sort or filter with Data → Create a filter — e.g. show only flagged rows.
- Share with the green Share button, top-right.
- Scanning more shelves later? Paste new rows into the bottom of one master Sheet to keep a single list.
On a phone or tablet? Install the free Google Sheets app and upload the CSV through the Drive app the same way. A computer is easier for a big catalog.
Requesting review of a book or material
A ready-to-adopt procedure your school can post, plus a request form. Replace the highlighted parts with your school's details.
Before you adopt this: this is a starting template, not legal advice. Have your board or authorizer review it against your school's policies and Indiana requirements, then approve it as official procedure. ICIC members can reach out for help tailoring it.
1 · Who to contact
Direct all requests to [name / role], [email], [phone]. Requests may also be dropped off at [front office location].
2 · How the process works
- Submit a request. Complete the request form (below) and return it to the contact above.
- Acknowledgement. The school confirms receipt within [e.g. 5 school days] and explains next steps.
- Material stays available during the review, unless [school/board policy] directs otherwise.
- Review committee — typically [an administrator, a teacher, a library staff member, and a parent representative] — reviews the full material in context.
- Decision. A written decision goes to the requester within [e.g. 30 school days], with reasons.
- Appeal. If the requester disagrees, they may appeal to [e.g. the head of school, then the board].
3 · Principles we follow
- Every request is taken seriously and handled respectfully.
- Decisions consider the material as a whole, not isolated passages.
- We weigh educational value, age-appropriateness, and the range of families we serve.
- The process is transparent, and the outcome is shared in writing.
Request form — fields to include
- Requester name, date, email, phone, and role (parent, staff, student, community).
- Title and author of the material, and where it was encountered (library, classroom, assigned reading).
- The specific concern, in the requester's own words.
- Whether they read or viewed the material in full — and if not, which parts.
- The outcome they are requesting.
- Signature, plus an office-use line for who received it and when.
Tip: keep a copy of every request and its written decision on file. A printable version of this template is also in your ICIC deploy folder.