The Collier Public Library Database is an example database that we will be building throughout this section of the course. It's based on a fictional small lending library which loans books out to its members and needs to track its inventory and transactions.

By following along with these lessons and building the database on your own, you will gain hands-on experience with Microsoft Access. I encourage you to take the time to complete this exercise, even if you have your own application in mind.

The Collier Library app will be a relatively small database with enough tables and other objects to carry out the following tasks:

• Catalog the library's books, including those that have been taken out of circulation
• Maintain a list of the library's patrons and their contact information
• Track checkouts and returns of books
• Identify books that are overdue

These are the main tasks of the application and others might be added as it's developed. This exercise with also provide you with a perspective on how to organically develop a database application; identifying the core functions to be completed first and then developing functionality outward from there.

You can download the latest version of the database at anytime from the link below.

I will continue to refer to the Job Search Plus application for examples of completed features and best practices.