A Real-Time Smart Library Automation System Using RFID and Web-Based Resource Management

Traditional library systems continue to rely heavilyon manual workflows for book circulation, seat allocation, anduser monitoring, which leads to delays, human errors, and poorvisibility of resource usage. RFID-based automation has beenwidely adopted in library environments to improve circulationefficiency, inventory control, and access management, while IoTenabled reservation systems extend these capabilities to studyspace monitoring and occupancy validation [1]–[5]. However,many existing systems remain fragmented, addressing eitherbook circulation or seat booking without providing an integratedoperational framework. This paper presents a real-time smartlibrary automation system that combines RFID technology with aweb-based resource management platform to support automateduser check-in and check-out, self-service book issue and return,and intelligent seat reservation with automatic expiry. Theproposed system uses RFID-enabled identity cards, NodeMCUbased reader stations, a Node.js and Express backend, MongoDBas the primary document database, and a React frontend for students and administrators. Each transaction is validated throughauthenticated backend APIs, ensuring secure and consistent statetransitions. The system also records user sessions, tracks seatoccupancy, and automatically releases unused reservations toprevent ghost bookings. Simulation-based evaluation indicatesthat the architecture reduces transaction latency and manualworkload while improving transparency, fairness, and utilizationin academic library operations. The proposed framework therefore provides a practical and scalable foundation for Library4.0-style automation in higher education settings