Library Management System

A WPF application for managing books, members, and loan transactions with a clean, multi-layer architecture.

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Prerequisites

• .NET 6 SDK (or later) installed.
• SQLite support via Microsoft.Data.Sqlite (bundled).
• Visual Studio, JetBrains Rider, or another C# IDE.

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Configuration

1. Clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/RaresMarta/Library-Management-System.git
   cd LibrarySystem

2. appsettings.json (copied to output on build):

   {
     "ConnectionStrings": {
       "DefaultConnection": "Data Source=Data/LibraryDB.sqlite"
     }
   }

   • On first launch, the app creates LibraryDB.sqlite and the required tables.
   • Subsequent runs will reuse the existing database and apply any migrations.

3. DatabaseInitializer:

   • Automatically creates or migrates Books, Members, and Loans tables.

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Building & Running

From the root of the repository (where LibrarySystem.csproj lives):

1. Restore dependencies:

   dotnet restore

2. Build:

   dotnet build

3. Run:

   dotnet run --project LibrarySystem.csproj

   Or simply:

   dotnet run

   if your working directory is the project root, and then select LibrarySystem as the startup project if prompted by your IDE.

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Core Features

• CRUD for Books and Members with validations.

• Search books by Title and Author filters.

• Lending and Return flows:

  • Prevent loans when stock is depleted or member already has an open loan.
  • Prevent returns when loan is already returned.

• Renewals: extend due dates for active loans.

• Automatic Overdue: loans past due are marked Overdue on each refresh or startup.

• Loan History Tracking: view history per book and per member in dedicated windows.

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Analytics Dashboard (New Feature)

The Analytics Dashboard provides real-time insights on library usage:

1. Genre Distribution

   • Shows a table of each Genre and the number of books in that category.

2. Loan Status Distribution

   • Displays counts of Active and Overdue loans.

3. Top 5 Borrowed Books

   • Lists the five most frequently borrowed books with borrow counts.

4. Accessing the Dashboard

   • Click Analytics Dashboard in the main window to open.
   • Data updates automatically on open.

This dashboard helps librarians spot popular genres, track overdue load, and identify high-demand titles for ordering.

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Notes

• All business logic resides in the Service layer; UI only handles display and user interaction.
• The app uses MVVM-inspired patterns, with dependency injection of services into windows.
• No manual DB setup required: clone, build, and run!