Create an event and packing lists

Plan what your library is bringing to a meetup, class, or fair. An event holds the details — when, where, and who’s responsible. A packing list is a selection of carriers attached to that event, and an event can have several lists — most commonly one per person, so each volunteer tracks the carriers they’re personally bringing. Events and packing lists are available on the Starter plan and above. Creating an event requires a Library Owner or Org Admin; anyone in your organization can create a packing list under an event.

On the Free plan, the Events area doesn’t appear in the navigation, and visiting Events shows an upgrade prompt instead of your event list. If your organization downgrades to Free later, you can’t create new events or packing lists — but any you already have keep working exactly as before (adding carriers, advancing stages, marking packed or returned, cancelling) if you still have a direct link to them; the Events list itself won’t show them again until you’re back on Starter or above.

Steps

1. Create the event

Open Events in the main navigation and choose New event. Fill in:

Event name (required) — e.g. Spring Babywearing Meetup
Type (optional) — one of your organization’s event types, shown as a color-coded chip on the events page
Event date (optional) — starts at today’s date
Time (optional) — free text, e.g. 10:00 – 11:30 AM
Location (optional)
Event Leader (required) — the person accountable for carriers at the event; it defaults to you
Notes (optional)

Event types (Clinic, Class, Meetup — whatever your organization runs) are set up by an Org Admin in the organization’s Settings page, under Event types, each with a label and a color.

2. Create a packing list

On the event’s page, choose Create packing list. Give it:

List name (required) — e.g. Sarah’s carriers, Main bag, Wraps only
Bringing this list — the person carrying this bag; defaults to you
Visibility — Shared (the default) or Private; see below
Notes (optional)

One person can own several lists, and an event can hold as many lists as you need.

3. Add carriers to the list

While the list is in its Building the list or Ready stage, add carriers three ways:

Search by carrier ID, brand, or model
Scan the carrier’s QR label with your phone’s camera, or with a handheld scanner — the scanned carrier is added straight to the list
Paste a carrier label’s link into the search box — same effect as a scan

Carriers from any library in your organization can go on the same list. Almost any status can be added — a carrier that’s out on loan or in repair can still be planned for the event — except an archived carrier, which the search excludes.

A packing list never changes a carrier’s status

Putting a carrier on a packing list is a soft note, not an action that changes anything:

The carrier keeps its real status — Available, On loan, Out for Repair, whatever it was
It can still be borrowed, returned, and transferred as normal
While the list is in its Active stage, the carrier’s page — and the check-out and transfer screens — show a heads-up note: “On packing list: [event name], [date]”. It’s informational only and never blocks anything; it just tells the librarian the carrier may be physically in transit

Shared vs private lists

A shared list (the default) is visible to everyone in your organization, and anyone in the org can add or remove its carriers, move it through its stages, and mark carriers packed or returned
A private list is hidden — only its owner (or creator) and Org Admins can see it, see its carriers, or work with it. Use it for a personal bag you don’t want edited by the group
The owner (or creator) and Org Admins can switch a list between shared and private with Make private / Make shared — but only while the list is still in its Building the list or Ready stage

Who can do what

View events and shared packing lists: anyone in the organization
Create events: Org Admins and Library Owners (there’s no separate edit step — the event’s own fields are set once, at creation)
Create packing lists: anyone in the organization — a volunteer can make their own list under an event
Add/remove carriers, advance stages, mark packed/returned: anyone in the organization, on a shared list; only the owner and Org Admins on a private list
Cancel a list, or change its visibility: only the list’s owner (or creator) and Org Admins — even on a shared list