Library Management System

Overview

I built this library system as a full MERN operations product: catalogue, members, borrowing, and staff workflows. Titles, copies, borrowers, and loans are entities with a REST API and a React UI — not a single PHP page with a table.

It is early full-stack work. The same muscles show up later in Srijaya (inventory and loans-as-stock) and MediTracker (records and search): model the domain, expose an API, build the staff UI.

Problem

Libraries that run on paper lose books and cannot answer “who has this title?” Staff need cataloguing, member records, and a loan lifecycle. Students need search. Admins need both, with a login that is not optional.

What I built

I implemented registration/login with session-style auth so only signed-in staff and members reach the right screens. The catalogue covers titles and copies. Members borrow and return through an issue/return workflow. Search and browse sit on the React client. Forms validate in the browser (required fields, immediate feedback) so garbage data hits the API less often.

The UI was mobile-first with CSS (no Bootstrap in that build) so a phone at the desk still works. Express and Node expose REST endpoints; MongoDB stores catalogue, members, and transactions.

Impact

A complete CRUD and loan lifecycle for a teaching / campus library scenario. Practice in REST + React + a document database that transferred to later products. I do not claim a deployed campus library or circulation numbers.

Key features

• User authentication for staff and members
• Catalogue and copy-level stock
• Member records and borrowing history
• Issue / return workflow
• Search and browse
• Client-side input validation
• Responsive layout without a CSS framework

Technologies

MongoDB stores catalogue and member data. Express.js and Node.js power the API. React delivers the user-facing interface.

My role

Solo academic / personal full-stack build: schema, API, and UI.