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Design a Library Management System

A Library Management System is a software built to handle the

primary housekeeping functions of a library. Libraries rely on library
management systems to manage asset collections as well as
relationships with their members. Library management systems help
libraries keep track of the books and their checkouts, as well as
members’ subscriptions and profiles.

Library management systems also involve maintaining the database

for entering new books and recording books that have been
borrowed with their respective due dates.

System Requirements

💡 Always clarify requirements at the beginning of the

interview. Be sure to ask questions to find the exact scope of the

 system that the interviewer has in mind.
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We will focus on the following set of requirements while designing

the Library Management System:

1. Any library member should be able to search books by their title,

author, subject category as well by the publication date.

2. Each book will have a unique identification number and other

details including a rack number which will help to physically
locate the book.

3. There could be more than one copy of a book, and library

members should be able to check-out and reserve any copy. We
will call each copy of a book, a book item.

4. The system should be able to retrieve information like who took

a particular book or what are the books checked-out by a specific
library member.

5. There should be a maximum limit (5) on how many books a

member can check-out.

6. There should be a maximum limit (10) on how many days a

member can keep a book.

7. The system should be able to collect fines for books returned

after the due date.

8. Members should be able to reserve books that are not currently

available.

9. The system should be able to send notifications whenever the

reserved books become available, as well as when the book is not
returned within the due date.

10. Each book and member card will have a unique barcode. The
system will be able to read barcodes from books and members’
library cards.
Use case diagram
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We have three main actors in our system:

Librarian: Mainly responsible for adding and modifying books,

book items, and users. The Librarian can also issue, reserve, and
return book items.
Member: All members can search the catalog, as well as check-
out, reserve, renew, and return a book.
System: Mainly responsible for sending notifications for overdue
books, canceled reservations, etc.

Here are the top use cases of the Library Management System:

Add/Remove/Edit book: To add, remove or modify a book or

book item.
Search catalog: To search books by title, author, subject or
publication date.
Register new account/cancel membership: To add a new
member or cancel the membership of an existing member.
Check-out book: To borrow a book from the library.
Reserve book: To reserve a book which is not currently
available.
Renew a book: To reborrow an already checked-out book.
Return a book: To return a book to the library which was issued
to a member.
 (/learn)

Use case diagram

Class diagram

Here are the main classes of our Library Management System:

Library: The central part of the organization for which this

software has been designed. It has attributes like ‘Name’ to
distinguish it from any other libraries and ‘Address’ to describe
its location.
Book: The basic building block of the system. Every book will
(/learn)
have ISBN, Title, Subject, Publishers, etc.

BookItem: Any book can have multiple copies, each copy will be
considered a book item in our system. Each book item will have
a unique barcode.

Account: We will have two types of accounts in the system, one

will be a general member, and the other will be a librarian.

LibraryCard: Each library user will be issued a library card,

which will be used to identify users while issuing or returning
books.

BookReservation: Responsible for managing reservations

against book items.

BookLending: Manage the checking-out of book items.

Catalog: Catalogs contain list of books sorted on certain criteria.

Our system will support searching through four catalogs: Title,
Author, Subject, and Publish-date.

Fine: This class will be responsible for calculating and collecting

fines from library members.

Author: This class will encapsulate a book author.

Rack: Books will be placed on racks. Each rack will be identified

by a rack number and will have a location identifier to describe
the physical location of the rack in the library.

Notification: This class will take care of sending notifications to

library members.
(/learn)

Class diagram for Library Management System

 (/learn)UML conventions
<<interface>>
Name
Interface: Classes implement interfaces, denoted by Generalization.
method1()

ClassName

property_name: type Class: Every class can have properties and methods.
Abstract classes are identified by their Italic names.
method(): type

A B Generalization: A implements B.

A B Inheritance: A inherits from B. A "is-a" B.

A B Use Interface: A uses interface B.

A B Association: A and B call each other.

A B Uni-directional Association: A can call B, but not vice versa.

A B Aggregation: A "has-an" instance of B. B can exist without A.

A B Composition: A "has-an" instance of B. B cannot exist without A.

Activity diagrams

Check-out a book: Any library member or librarian can perform this

activity. Here are the set of steps to check-out a book:

Member scans their library card

through barcode reader

Member scans the barcode of

the book

System checks if the book can be issued and

that the book is not 'reference only'?

[no]
 [yes]

(/learn)
System checks the number of books issued to the member

[max quota exceeded]

[else]

System checks if the book has been reserved

by any other member?

[yes]

[no]

System creates book checkout transaction

System updates the status of the book to 'Loaned' Show error message

System increments number of books issued to the member

System marks any reservation 'Completed' that the member

had made against the book

Return a book: Any library member or librarian can perform this

activity. The system will collect fines from members if they return
books after the due date. Here are the steps for returning a book:
 (/learn)

Member scans barcode of the

book

System fetches book's

details

System checks if the book is being returned

within the due date?

[no]
Calculate fine

[yes] Create transaction

for fine collection

System decrements the number of books

Collect fine
issued to the member

System checks if the book has been

reserved by any member?

[yes]

[no]

System updates the status System updates the status

of the book to 'Available' of the book to 'Reserved'

System sends notification to the member who has

reserved the book about the availability of the book

Renew a book: While renewing (re-issuing) a book, the system will

check for fines and see if any other member has not reserved the
same book, in that case the book item cannot be renewed. Here are
the different steps for renewing a book:
(/learn)

Member scans their library card

through barcode reader

Member scans barcode of the book and

selects to renew the book

System fetches book's details

Check if the book has been returned within

the due date

[no]
Calculate fine

[yes] Create transaction

for fine collection

See if the book has been reserved

Collect fine
by any other member

[yes]

[no]

Create book checkout transaction Show error message that the

with new due date book can't be issued

Update the status of the

book to 'Reserved'

Send notification to the member who has reserved

the book that the book has become available
Code (/learn)

Here is the code for the use cases mentioned above: 1) Check-out a
book, 2) Return a book, and 3) Renew a book.

Note: This code only focuses on the design part of the use cases. Since
you are not required to write a fully executable code in an interview,
you can assume parts of the code to interact with the database,
payment system, etc.

Enums and Constants: Here are the required enums, data types, and
constants:

Java Python
 public enum BookFormat {
HARDCOVER, (/learn)
PAPERBACK,
AUDIO_BOOK,
EBOOK,
NEWSPAPER,
MAGAZINE,
JOURNAL
}

public enum BookStatus {

AVAILABLE,
RESERVED,
LOANED,
LOST
}

public enum ReservationStatus{

WAITING,
PENDING,
CANCELED,
NONE
}

public enum AccountStatus{

ACTIVE,
CLOSED,
CANCELED,
BLACKLISTED,
NONE
}

public class Address {

private String streetAddress;
private String city;
private String state;
private String zipCode;
private String country;
}

public class Person {

private String name;
private Address address;
private String email;
private String phone;
}

public class Constants {

public static final int MAX_BOOKS_ISSUED_TO_A_USER = 5;
public static final int MAX_LENDING_DAYS = 10;
}

Account, Member, and Librarian: These classes represent various

people that interact with our system:
Java Python
(/learn)
// For simplicity, we are not defining getter and setter functions. The read
(/learn)attributes are private and accessed through their
// assume that all class
// public getter methods and modified only through their public methods func

public abstract class Account {

private String id;
private String password;
private AccountStatus status;
private Person person;

public boolean resetPassword();

}

public class Librarian extends Account {

public boolean addBookItem(BookItem bookItem);

public boolean blockMember(Member member);

public boolean unBlockMember(Member member);

}

public class Member extends Account {

private Date dateOfMembership;
private int totalBooksCheckedout;

public int getTotalBooksCheckedout();

public boolean reserveBookItem(BookItem bookItem);

private void incrementTotalBooksCheckedout();

public boolean checkoutBookItem(BookItem bookItem) {

if (this.getTotalBooksCheckedOut() >= Constants.MAX_BOOKS_ISSUED_TO_A_US
ShowError("The user has already checked-out maximum number of books")
return false;
}
BookReservation bookReservation = BookReservation.fetchReservationDetai
if (bookReservation != null && bookReservation.getMemberId() != this.get
// book item has a pending reservation from another user
ShowError("This book is reserved by another member");
return false;
} else if (bookReservation != null) {
// book item has a pending reservation from the give member, update it
bookReservation.updateStatus(ReservationStatus.COMPLETED);
}

if (!bookItem.checkout(this.getId())) {
return false;
}

this.incrementTotalBooksCheckedout();
return true;
}

private void checkForFine(String bookItemBarcode) {

BookLending bookLending = BookLending.fetchLendingDetails(bookItemBarcod
Date dueDate = bookLending.getDueDate();
 Date today = new Date();
// check if the (/learn)
book has been returned within the due date
if (today.compareTo(dueDate) > 0) {
long diff = todayDate.getTime() - dueDate.getTime();
long diffDays = diff / (24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
Fine.collectFine(memberId, diffDays);
}
}

public void returnBookItem(BookItem bookItem) {

this.checkForFine(bookItem.getBarcode());
BookReservation bookReservation = BookReservation.fetchReservationDetai
if (bookReservation != null) {
// book item has a pending reservation
bookItem.updateBookItemStatus(BookStatus.RESERVED);
bookReservation.sendBookAvailableNotification();
}
bookItem.updateBookItemStatus(BookStatus.AVAILABLE);
}

public bool renewBookItem(BookItem bookItem) {

this.checkForFine(bookItem.getBarcode());
BookReservation bookReservation = BookReservation.fetchReservationDetai
// check if this book item has a pending reservation from another membe
if (bookReservation != null && bookReservation.getMemberId() != this.get
ShowError("This book is reserved by another member");
member.decrementTotalBooksCheckedout();
bookItem.updateBookItemState(BookStatus.RESERVED);
bookReservation.sendBookAvailableNotification();
return false;
} else if (bookReservation != null) {
// book item has a pending reservation from this member
bookReservation.updateStatus(ReservationStatus.COMPLETED);
}
BookLending.lendBook(bookItem.getBarCode(), this.getMemberId());
bookItem.updateDueDate(LocalDate.now().plusDays(Constants.MAX_LENDING_DA
return true;
}
}

BookReservation, BookLending, and Fine: These classes represent a

book reservation, lending, and fine collection, respectively.

Java Python
 public class BookReservation {
(/learn)
private Date creationDate;
private ReservationStatus status;
private String bookItemBarcode;
private String memberId;

public static BookReservation fetchReservationDetails(String barcode);

}

public class BookLending {

private Date creationDate;
private Date dueDate;
private Date returnDate;
private String bookItemBarcode;
private String memberId;

public static void lendBook(String barcode, String memberId);

public static BookLending fetchLendingDetails(String barcode);
}

public class Fine {

private Date creationDate;
private double bookItemBarcode;
private String memberId;

public static void collectFine(String memberId, long days) {}

}

BookItem: Encapsulating a book item, this class will be responsible

for processing the reservation, return, and renewal of a book item.

Java Python
 public abstract class Book {
(/learn)
private String ISBN;
private String title;
private String subject;
private String publisher;
private String language;
private int numberOfPages;
private List<Author> authors;
}

public class BookItem extends Book {

private String barcode;
private boolean isReferenceOnly;
private Date borrowed;
private Date dueDate;
private double price;
private BookFormat format;
private BookStatus status;
private Date dateOfPurchase;
private Date publicationDate;
private Rack placedAt;

public boolean checkout(String memberId) {

if(bookItem.getIsReferenceOnly()) {
ShowError("This book is Reference only and can't be issued");
return false;
}
if(!BookLending.lendBook(this.getBarCode(), memberId)){
return false;
}
this.updateBookItemStatus(BookStatus.LOANED);
return true;
}
}

public class Rack {

private int number;
private String locationIdentifier;
}

Search interface and Catalog: The Catalog class will implement the
Search interface to facilitate searching of books.

Java Python
public interface Search {
public List<Book> (/learn)
searchByTitle(String title);
public List<Book> searchByAuthor(String author);
public List<Book> searchBySubject(String subject);
public List<Book> searchByPubDate(Date publishDate);
}

public class Catalog implements Search {

private HashMap<String, List<Book>> bookTitles;
private HashMap<String, List<Book>> bookAuthors;
private HashMap<String, List<Book>> bookSubjects;
private HashMap<String, List<Book>> bookPublicationDates;

public List<Book> searchByTitle(String query) {

// return all books containing the string query in their title.
return bookTitles.get(query);
}

public List<Book> searchByAuthor(String query) {

// return all books containing the string query in their author's name.
return bookAuthors.get(query);
}
}

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