Development of a Digital Library Management System for EBSU Main Library

University libraries in Nigeria continue to grapple with inefficient manual cataloguing, difficulty in tracking borrowed materials, and limited access to library resources outside physical premises. This study develops a digital library management system for the Main Library of Ebonyi State University (EBSU), featuring online catalogue search, book borrowing and return tracking, overdue fine management, and a staff administration dashboard. The system was developed using the Laravel PHP framework for the backend, MySQL for database management, and Bootstrap with jQuery for the responsive frontend interface. The development process followed the Software Development Life Cycle using the Waterfall model with clear documentation at each phase. System functionality was evaluated through structured testing scenarios involving 50 student users and 8 library staff members over a six-week trial. Results indicate that average catalogue search time was reduced from approximately 12 minutes manually to under 30 seconds digitally. Overdue tracking accuracy reached 100 percent across all test borrowing records. Staff reported a 65 percent reduction in time spent on administrative tasks. Student satisfaction with resource accessibility improved from a mean score of 2.8 to 4.5 on a five-point scale. The study concludes that digital library systems substantially enhance service quality and operational efficiency in Nigerian university libraries. Future development should incorporate e-book lending functionality and integration with national library consortium catalogues.