Koha tips and tricks 7

Here are a few tips that might be helpful for Koha libraries over the holidays. 

4 Koha tips and tricks for 2026

1. Use the Koha in-built calendar for closing dates

With the end of the year approaching and statutory holidays over the next two months, the Koha in-built calendar is a handy tool to set up the dates your library is closed. When Koha knows the dates you're closed, the system will factor it in when calculating item due dates.

You can access the calendar tool from the Koha staff client by going to: Tools > Calendar (listed under 'Additional tools').

Pictured: The Koha staff client Tools home page with the 'Calendar' tool link highlighted yellow.

Now, click on a date in the calendar and use the 'Add new holiday' form to list the holiday dates and name the occasion.

Pictured: Adding a new calendar event to the Koha staff client calendar tool. The event lasts from 25 Dec 2025 until 5 January 2026 and is named 'Christmas Shutdown'

Then save it. Then you can see the holiday days highlighted in the calendar. Clicking on it loads a hint window to the right of the calendar listing more information.

Pictured: The Koha Calendar tool showing the 'Christmas shutdown' event highlighted apricot in in a visual calendar on the left of the page and in a table on the right of the screen.

Now, configure Koha to respect these holidays.

The Koha manual summarises the system preferences (settings) that you should check to ensure your Koha instance is using the calendar events you've added correctly:

• useDaysMode system preference
• finescalendar system preference 

To edit these system preferences on the Koha staff client, go to: Koha administration > System preferences > search for the system preference name.

Using the calendar tool and system preferences, you can ensure your borrowers' issued items don't become due during the holiday shutdown.