LibreOffice Base is a powerful tool for creating databases—ideal for home users, teachers, librarians, small businesses, or anyone who wants to organize data… without writing SQL code!

In this part, you will learn how to create a simple database with forms and reports that works like a miniature CRM system, address book, or book catalog.

Creating a database, tables, and relationships
Getting started:
Launch LibreOffice Base and choose “Create a new database”.
Go through the wizard and save the .odb file.

Tables:
Create tables manually or with the wizard.
Each table represents a set of data, for example Books, Authors, Readers.
Define fields (columns), such as Title, ISBN, Year of publication, AuthorID.

Relationships:
Go to Tools → Relationships.
Connect primary keys with foreign keys (for example, AuthorID with ID in the Authors table).
Thanks to relationships, you will avoid duplicating data.

Forms and reports – without writing code
Forms:
In the Forms tab, click Use Wizard to Create Form. In the next step, choose the data source (for example, the “Books” table), and then decide on the style, layout, and additional options—such as navigation buttons.

Thanks to forms, you can easily add, browse, and edit records in the database. Importantly, all of this can be done without knowing SQL.

Reports:
To create a report, go to the Reports tab and select Use Wizard to Create Report. This tool allows you to build summaries, listings, and print-ready reports from the database.

You can also define the sorting method, grouping of data, as well as the visual style of the document. As a result, reports will be not only functional but also clear.

Example: a simple book management system
Create a system that stores information about books, authors, and loans:

Books table: ID, Title, AuthorID, Genre, Availability
Authors table: ID, First name, Last name
Readers table: ID, First name, Last name, Phone
Forms: adding books and loans
Report: list of books available for loan

LibreOffice Base allows you to:

create simple databases without programming,
manage data with forms and reports,
build practical tools for everyday organization.

It is an ideal solution if you want to quickly create a book catalog, contact list, or expense register.

In the next part, we will discuss automation – LibreOffice Macros!