Sign-in

This page covers staff sign-in. For patron sign-in problems, see OPAC access.

“Sign in with Google” fails

A few common causes, ordered by frequency:

• Wrong Google account in the browser. If you’re signed in to a personal Gmail in the same browser, Google may auto-select it instead of the school account. Click the small “Use another account” link on the Google chooser and pick the school account explicitly.
• The Google admin has blocked third-party app sign-in. Some districts restrict OAuth to a curated list. The fix is on the Google Admin side: add lyralibrary.com to the allowed-apps list. If you don’t have admin access, this is an IT ticket.
• A consent screen looped you back without granting. If the consent screen comes up, you click Allow, and it sends you back to the consent screen, the cause is usually a stale Google session. Sign out of Google in another tab, then re-try Lyra sign-in.

“Sign in with Microsoft” fails

Same pattern, different vendor:

• Wrong Microsoft account in the browser. Many staff have a personal Outlook account and a school Microsoft 365 account in the same browser profile. Use the “Use another account” link to pick the school one.
• The school tenant requires admin consent. Microsoft Entra administrators can require admin consent for new apps. If you see Microsoft’s “Need admin approval” screen, that’s the cause; the school’s Microsoft 365 admin has to consent to Lyra once at the tenant level, then individual users can sign in.
• Conditional Access policies blocked the sign-in. Some districts require MFA, a managed device, or a specific IP range. The error message will name the policy. Fix is on the Entra side.

The 6-digit login code doesn’t arrive

Staff sign in by entering their email and selecting button: Send sign-in code. Lyra emails a 6-digit one-time code; the user types it back in to finish sign-in. There is no password and no magic link. If the email doesn’t arrive within a minute:

• Check spam. School mail filters sometimes flag automated messages from new domains. Whitelist no-reply@lyralibrary.com if needed.
• Confirm the email address. A typo silently produces no email. Try the request again with the address visible to confirm spelling.
• Check the wrong inbox. If you have multiple emails forwarded to one inbox, the code is sent to the address you typed, not the forwarding address. Some forwarding setups rewrite the destination and the message vanishes.
• Wait two minutes. Lyra’s send is immediate; the SMTP path through your school’s mail provider may add a delay. A code typically arrives in under 30 seconds; if more than 90 seconds elapse, request another. (Our auth library invalidates prior codes when a new one is issued.)

There is no temporary-password fallback. If the user can’t receive email at all, the path forward is to add them under an address that does receive mail, or to sign in with Google or Microsoft instead. Lyra can’t change a staff member’s email, so an admin removes the old entry from navigation path: Staff and adds the person again at the new address.

Sign-in loop after clearing cookies

A frustrating one. You clear cookies, you sign in, you’re sent back to the sign-in page, repeat. The cause is almost always a third-party cookie block in the browser.

Lyra’s sign-in flow sets a session cookie that’s read across a small number of subdomains. If the browser blocks third-party cookies for lyralibrary.com, the session is established but immediately discarded, and you bounce back.

The fixes:

• Allow cookies for *.lyralibrary.com in your browser settings. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge all expose this.
• Allow third-party cookies generally. Less surgical but faster to do if you’re not sure where the per-site setting is.
• Try a different browser. If Chrome loops and Firefox works, it’s a Chrome setting; if both loop, it’s something else.

If the loop persists with cookies allowed, capture a HAR file (browser dev tools) of the loop and send it to support. The HAR shows whether the cookie is being set, blocked, or rejected.

“Account locked” or rate-limited

After repeated failed code entries in a short window, the auth layer rate-limits the account. Wait a few minutes and try again. If a user is persistently locked out, contact support.

What to capture if you can’t resolve it

Email support@lyralibrary.com with:

• The exact sign-in method you’re using (Google, Microsoft, or 6-digit email code).
• The browser and operating system.
• The error message verbatim, ideally as a screenshot.
• Whether the sign-in has ever worked before, or whether this is the first attempt.

The last bit matters: “it stopped working today” and “it has never worked” are different problems.