Mandarin vs Surpass

Simple Little Library System

Follett Destiny Library Manager

Surpass

Surpass is a library automation software designed to help public, corporate, church, museum, and school libraries handle cataloging and circulation of books. 

Effortless library management. Intuitive, affordable, and designed to keep print and digital collections organised.

Follett Destiny Library Manager is a web-based software designed to help K-12 schools manage and record their library's available inventory on a centralized platform. With Follett Destiny Discover, students can receive access to various print and digital resources including audiobooks, subscription databases and more.

Librarian

I also didn't like that I had to call or email them for new login for the staff even though they quickly did them for me.

Library Director

M5 is super easy to use and manage however, if  a problem arises, the tech support at Mandarin responds quickly and delivers a solution fast so that we can continue to serve our community.

Lindsay limited company 

Easy to use ,understandable,supportive ,Great

Mandarin is a web-based library management system targeting smaller private & public facilities with support for cataloguing, circulation & inventory management

Alerts/Notifications

Barcode/Ticket Scanning

Barcoding/RFID

Catalog Management

Church Libraries

Circulation Management

Customizable Branding

Customizable Reports

Customizable Templates

Customization

Data Import/Export

Equipment Tracking

Fee Collection

Full Text Search

Historical Reporting

Inventory Management

Multi-Language

Online Catalog

OPAC

Order Management

Patron Management

Periodicals Management

Private Libraries

Public Libraries

Records Management

Reporting & Statistics

Reserve Shelf Management

School Libraries

Search/Filter

Self Check-In/Check-Out

Self Service Portal

Serials Management

Templates

Third-Party Integrations

User Management

Mandarin

Windows

Web-based

Chromebook

Koha ILS

Basic

Call Number Labels are hard to customize to size and we have to use M3 for that.

Teacher-Librarian

There was a bit of a challenge integrating with our old patron records at first, but the technical support staff was quick to resolve it.

Learning a new system, as a new librarian, with hundreds of patrons, was a daunting position.

website owner

They are willing to take the time to talk me through a problem when I am hardly coherent about a situation.

The software is easy to personalize for the needs of our Library Learning Commons in a secondary setting.  

I had to accept what the Hispanic Society Library was already using but I could make it work in a short time

Librarian Director

Update the manual not only the video tutorials.

Librarian 

In the catalogue feature, when you’re adding or editing a single book, the fields are all numbered and not easy to know what you are doing.

I saved over $12,000 over other systems and working in public schools every dime you save can go toward books for the library.

Part-time Librarian

Also, I'm finding that ALL my records are missing some key components that I'm having to add manually to each one.  

The ability to quickly download catalog records from Library of Congress or other libraries is extremely helpful.   Whenever I need to create a record that can't be downloaded, an exceptional template is available.   If I need to edit a record all of the MARC record fields and subfields show as options for insertion; and it is very easy to delete an unwanted field.

After hand linking over 19,500 books with over 4,500 to go and having library aides take over the management of the other 3 libraries while I finished the 4th, I knew I made the right decision.

Amazing and prompt help from Alex and Mike.  

Elementary Librarian

The help staff is amazing! If you have a problem, can't remember how to do something, or need assistance, they are there to help and take care of things in a timely manner.

I still am unable to get lists of holdings and other things like that to work.

Mandarin is the best universal, unbiased, multi-functioning program and in my opinion, they cannot be best.

Our previous librarian wasn’t sure on how to do that and she had added about 1/4 of the curriculum and done it wrong.

However, I am consistently pleased with their support through the years.  

It's a bit time-consuming and ponderous to set up at the beginning of each school year.

On top of all that, we had just started adding curriculum to the mandarin system.

It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it meets our needs adequately.

It took a year and a half to clean up all the mess I had been left by the school.

More still, the advanced search features help patrons to filter searching into narrow specific terms.

Director of Technology

The entire Mandarin team made the transition from Destiny easy and we lost no data.

I like that I got want I needed, the ease of use, and the tech support they gave for the price.

Mandarin has helped patrons to access the contents of the library collection in the comfort of their homes.

School Library Media Specialist

The software is versatile, and the features are endless.

I had a mess that most would have quit over.

The technical support during and beyond implementation has also been outstanding showing that they really care about our library and our users.

Mandarin improves inventory control in the library system.

Therefore, patrons access the library collection through the client computers.

Patrons are able to access the library collection remotely online.

In the wake of COVID-19, the library continued offering services despite the staff and patrons remaining in their homes.

We were already using Madarain M3 to the switch to M% was seamless.  

Beside, not all titles can be found on record Fetch.

This library software is easy to use and easy to train students and staff to use.  

Customer Support

Library Management in Schools

Ease of Use

Record Management

Patron Access

Switching Systems

Bugs and Issues

Label Printing

Updates

Adding Books

Small Business

Mid-size Business

Large Enterprises

Freelancers

Mandarin Library Automation

Purchasing Clerk

The software did everything we needed and the customer service was quick and helpful.  

Managing Librarian

Surpass has been easy to use, has great customer service, and offers a great value that fits within my organization's budget.

Access Controls/Permissions

Activity Dashboard

Barcode Recognition

Content Library

Content Management

Digital Asset Management

Law Libraries

Reservations Management

Resource Management

Proprietary

Alexandria

Evolve Library

Congregational 

Small 

Large

District

Premier

Community Engagement Technician

My overall experience with Surpass has been positive. While there is a learning curve, the system is secure, customizable, and effective for library management, book cataloging, and tracking both circulating and non-circulating materials.

Library Volunteer

I especially appreciate the flexibility in customizing records, which allows me to highlight important details and ensure users can easily locate what they need.

I helped catalog an entire library using old barcodes, new barcodes and everything in between.  

The only thing that comes to mind is that the user interface in the basic version we use is visually a bit dated, but this has no impact on functionality.

Alliance for Children, Education Stars Program Director

The online catalog projects a professional image and gives patrons a highly functional way to search, select, and place holds on materials.

Navigating around the site is smooth and intuitive—the menus are well-structured, and search features are responsive and accurate.

If I could change anything I might add more detailed report options.

Seeing some other librarians run reports on social media has made me slightly jealous.

Volunteer

Surpass Software was a perfect match for our organization to automate our 5000 book library.  

Sometimes requested changes are not accommodated because we are a minority in the way we use Surpass (toy library for a non-profit rather than a traditional library).  

president

Their responsiveness to questions, concerns and needs is really exceptional.

librarian

Not only are there instructional videos on Youtube, but I can chat online to get help with a LIVE ASSISTANT without going through a bot first.

Digital Library Administrator

They have a litany of YouTube videos that cover many of their features of their software, they are usually only about 3 minutes each making them easy to watch

The ease of learning the program was so helpful as I trained others to help.

Coordinator Information and Resources

Sometimes having to type the exact title to find the book in the Resource list.

Librarian Specialist

There is a lot of good options for adding items for our users to find, and it is easy to add them.

Any time I have had a problem they have helped me fix it.

We have recommended this software to other non-profit lending libraries that have reached out to us to find out how we developed such an amazing catalog.  

As a new librarian of a small school library, I feel that the it was easy to master and to comprehend the basic functions of the program. And most importantly, the service is fabulous.

IT Director

From implementation, administration, to end users everything has been top notch.  

Surpass was implemented with employees at a Retirement Village but the library volunteer residents have learned the parts of it they need to on a day to day basis quite easily. Since it's based on the Cloud it can be accessed anywhere at any time.

Media Specialist

She was able to fix my issues and was so patient and understanding with me.

Library Team lead

Surpass CL is perfect for our small to medium church library.

It is hard for me to think of what I like least about Surpass. When there is a situation that could be improved, I can suggest a change.

There are some confusions with how things are separated into each category.

Management is simple as well as easy to customize.

It's very flexible - you can add as little or as much detail as you like.

Surpass is constantly using customer feedback to improve their product.

Church Librarian

Support has proven to be very helpful and able to hlep

Media Aide

Still learning the system and wish there was a new user training already set up.

It's also quick and simple to catalogue new entries.

Manager 

It has allowed us to dramatically reduce the amount of time and effort needed to design and deploy tests and assessments, while also providing us with detailed and insightful analytics.

Surpass catalog is easy to use and is as good as far more expensive library systems.

Library Assistant

One of the features i really enjoy with Surpass is the excellent customer service. Whenever I have an issue they are always available to help and resolve the issue.

Firstly, it allows us to quickly create and deploy tests and assessments on a variety of topics, meaning that we can get feedback quickly and accurately.

They respond within minutes to my questions, and are extremely helpful and patient.

I would have left this blank because I have nothing that I didn’t like.

Media Clerk

The learning curve from the windows based system to the cloud based system is small and there are some features in the cloud that we didn't have before that are GREAT!

Director of Library Services

The customer service has been astounding.  

Computer Specialist

The software/hardware combination of the old system was on its last legs, and the initial software developer was  very slow to respond to upgrading to their newer system.   With Surpass they gave me a demo of which I tested their import feature and it was extremely easy to import everything I intended without the need for support on that feature.

Volunteer Librarian

I have especially enjoyed creating nested Explore buttons for our unique online catalog.

Mandarin vs Surpass Comparison (2026)

Mandarin

Surpass

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives