# Assigning books

URL: https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/books
Tab: Scheduling & Courses
Category: Creating
Updated: 2026-10-07

Add books to a student and decide whether they are scheduled chapter by chapter or read freely.

Every student has a **Book List**: a record of what they have read, built from the books you tag on courses and activities plus any you add by hand. To read a book as scheduled chapters or a daily free-read item, see [Scheduling books](https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/scheduling-books).

## The Book List

Click the student in the sidebar, then the **Book List** tab. Each row shows the cover, title, author, where the book came from (a course or activity name, or **Added manually**) and a date read. Search by title or author, switch between **List** and **Timeline**, and sort by **Date** or **Title**.

Click a row's date to change it. For a course book the date starts as the course's start date; for an activity, the activity's date.

![A student's Book List](https://opensky-public-images.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/supportimages/scheduling/books.png)

## Adding a book directly

1. On the Book List, click **Add Book**.
2. Search Open Library by title or author and click the plus beside a result. If it is not there, click **Can't find it? Add manually** and type the title and author.
3. Set a date read on each staged row if today is not right.
4. Click **Save**.

## Tagging books on a course or activity

Books tagged on a course or activity appear on the Book List of every student enrolled in it:

- When adding a course or activity, use **Add books** next to **Books:** on the Add form.
- Later, choose **Track books** from the row's menu on the **Enrollments** tab.

The same book tagged on two courses appears twice, each with its own date.

## Removing a book

Click the trash icon on a row. A manually added book leaves this student's list. A course or activity book is removed from the course or activity itself, for every student on it, so OpenSky asks you to confirm.

## Students and parents

Students see their own Book List when **Allow access to Book List** is on in their Student Portal settings; **Allow student to add, edit, and delete books** lets them add to it. A student can only remove books they added themselves. See [Student access](https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/student-access).

Parents can keep a reading list too: when you add a book from the Add form, **People** includes the household's parents as well as students.

## Need more help?

Reach out any time at [support@openskyplanner.com](mailto:support@openskyplanner.com) and we will be happy to help.