How Brooklyn Public Library offers self-checkout in a barcode scanning PWA

Established in 1896, Brooklyn Public Library is one of the largest public library systems in the United States and currently has more than 850,000 active cardholders. With a branch library within a half-mile of the majority of Brooklyn’s 2.7 million residents, BPL is a recognized leader in cultural offerings, literacy, out-of-school-time services, workforce development programs, and digital literacy.

Brooklyn Public Library’s online catalog

It is the mission of Brooklyn Public Library to ensure the preservation and transmission of society's knowledge, history and culture, and to provide the people of Brooklyn with free and open access to information for education, recreation and reference.

Brooklyn Public Library has an in-house developed online catalog where users can browse the collection, make booklists, and manage their accounts. Brooklyn had used vendor software in the past, but moved to an in-house PWA (ReactJS & PHP) developed in 2020.

Why Brooklyn Public Library replaced QuaggaJS

The catalog includes a self-checkout feature, which was originally built on QuaggaJS, an open-source barcode scanning library. The library’s materials are labeled with Codabar barcodes, a symbology that is widely used in libraries.

Self-checkout runs on the patrons’ own smartphones, so the scanner has to work on whatever device a patron brings to the branch. With QuaggaJS, scanning occasionally ran into device-specific issues, and a checkout that fails on some phones is a poor experience for patrons.

When looking for a replacement, the library’s web team also wanted a targeting overlay on the camera feed that helps patrons aim at the barcode. See how STRICH compares to QuaggaJS.

Self-checkout with STRICH in a React PWA

Brooklyn’s online catalog now uses the STRICH Barcode Scanning SDK for its self-checkout feature, so users can check out their materials quickly at a branch without having to wait in line at a customer service desk. This feature is also helpful for patrons checking out sensitive materials who wish to avoid seeing a clerk.

STRICH reads the library’s Codabar barcodes reliably across devices.

Why a web app instead of a native app

Self-checkout is part of the online catalog that patrons already use to browse the collection and manage their accounts. Building it into the existing PWA means there is no separate app to download: patrons open the catalog on their phone at the branch and can start scanning right away.