diff --git a/.env.test b/.env.test
deleted file mode 100644
index 9a7ef0f..0000000
--- a/.env.test
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-TESTING=true
-DB_URI=sqlite:///:memory:
-S3_ACCESS_KEY=lenny
-S3_SECRET_KEY=lennytesting
-MINIO_BUCKET=lenny
-MINIO_HOST=localhost
-MINIO_PORT=9000
-POSTGRES_HOST=localhost
-POSTGRES_USER=lenny
-POSTGRES_PASSWORD=lennytest
-POSTGRES_PORT=5432
-POSTGRES_DB=lending_system
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 70cedeb..282e6cd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -27,15 +27,25 @@ Lenny is a free, open source Lending System for Libraries.
 
 ## Installation
 
-First, copy the file `lenny_TEMPLATE.env` to `lenny.env` (gitignored) and edit it to have the correct values (such as desired psql credentials).
+```
+docker/configure.sh  # generates lenny.env
+docker compose -p lenny up -d --build
+```
 
-Second, run docker compose:
+Navigate to localhost:8080 or whatever `$LENNY_PORT` you specified in your `lenny.env`
+
+You may enter the API container via:
 
 ```
-docker compose -p lenny up -d --build
+docker exec -it lenny_api bash
 ```
 
-Finally, navigate to localhost:8080 or whatever `$LENNY_PORT` you specified in your `lenny.env`
+## Rebuilding
+
+```
+docker compose -p lenny down
+docker compose -p lenny up -d --build
+```
 
 ## Pilot
 
diff --git a/compose.yaml b/compose.yaml
index f84e19d..e2219b7 100644
--- a/compose.yaml
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ services:
       - s3
     env_file: lenny.env
     environment:
-    - LENNY_PORT=1337  
+      - LENNY_PORT=1337  # When in docker, run Lenny as 1337, reverse proxies from nginx
+      - S3_ENDPOINT=s3:9000
+    volumes:
+      - .:/app
     networks:
       - lenny_network
 
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 27a6960..d7abb7c 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -5,18 +5,22 @@ WORKDIR /app
 COPY requirements.txt .
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
-# Set only non-sensitive environment variables
+# Set non-sensitive environment variables
 ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
 ENV PYTHONPATH=/app
 
+# Expose ports (FastAPI, PostgreSQL, MinIO API, MinIO Console)
 EXPOSE 8080 5432 9000 9001
 
 COPY ./lenny/ /app/lenny/
 RUN chmod +x /app/lenny/app.py
 
-# Setup NGINX
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y nginx
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
+    nginx \
+    libpq-dev \
+    postgresql-client
 RUN adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" nginx
+
 COPY ./docker/nginx/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
 COPY ./docker/nginx/conf.d/lenny.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/lenny.conf
 
diff --git a/docker/configure.sh b/docker/configure.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..9852b1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/configure.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+ENV_FILE="lenny.env"
+
+# Exit if the file already exists
+if [ -f "$ENV_FILE" ]; then
+  echo "$ENV_FILE already exists. No changes made."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# Use environment variables if they are set, otherwise provide defaults or generate secure values
+LENNY_DOMAIN="${LENNY_DOMAIN:-localhost}"
+LENNY_HOST="${LENNY_HOST:-0.0.0.0}"
+LENNY_PORT="${LENNY_PORT:-8080}"
+LENNY_WORKERS="${LENNY_WORKERS:-1}"
+LENNY_LOG_LEVEL="${LENNY_LOG_LEVEL:-debug}"
+LENNY_RELOAD="${LENNY_RELOAD:-1}"
+LENNY_SSL_CRT="${LENNY_SSL_CRT:-}"
+LENNY_SSL_KEY="${LENNY_SSL_KEY:-}"
+
+DB_USER="${POSTGRES_USER:-librarian}"
+DB_HOST="${POSTGRES_HOST:-127.0.0.1}"
+DB_PORT="${POSTGRES_PORT:-5432}"
+DB_PASSWORD="${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-$(openssl rand -base64 24 | tr -dc 'A-Za-z0-9' | head -c 32)}"
+DB_NAME="${DB_NAME:-lenny}"
+
+MINIO_ROOT_USER="${MINIO_ROOT_USER:-$(openssl rand -base64 30 | tr -dc 'A-Za-z0-9' | head -c 20)}"
+MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD="${MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD:-$(openssl rand -base64 60 | tr -dc 'A-Za-z0-9' | head -c 40)}"
+MINIO_SECURE="${MINIO_SECURE:-false}"
+
+# Write to lenny.env
+cat <<EOF > "$ENV_FILE"
+# API App (FastAPI)
+LENNY_DOMAIN=$LENNY_DOMAIN
+LENNY_HOST=$LENNY_HOST
+LENNY_PORT=$LENNY_PORT
+LENNY_WORKERS=$LENNY_WORKERS
+LENNY_LOG_LEVEL=$LENNY_LOG_LEVEL
+LENNY_RELOAD=$LENNY_RELOAD
+LENNY_SSL_CRT=$LENNY_SSL_CRT
+LENNY_SSL_KEY=$LENNY_SSL_KEY
+
+# DB (PostgreSQL)
+DB_USER=$DB_USER
+DB_HOST=$DB_HOST
+DB_PORT=$DB_PORT
+DB_PASSWORD=$DB_PASSWORD
+DB_NAME=$DB_NAME
+
+# MinIO (S3)
+MINIO_ROOT_USER=$MINIO_ROOT_USER
+MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=$MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD
+MINIO_SECURE=$MINIO_SECURE
+EOF
diff --git a/docker/nginx/nginx.conf b/docker/nginx/nginx.conf
index e0c47d0..74e2a88 100644
--- a/docker/nginx/nginx.conf
+++ b/docker/nginx/nginx.conf
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ http {
     access_log  /var/log/nginx/access.log  main;
     sendfile        on;
     keepalive_timeout  65;
+    client_max_body_size 50M;
     include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
 }
 
diff --git a/lenny/app.py b/lenny/app.py
index 4d057fd..d10b5e6 100755
--- a/lenny/app.py
+++ b/lenny/app.py
@@ -1,13 +1,18 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 
-import uvicorn
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 from lenny.routes import api
 from lenny.configs import OPTIONS
+from lenny import __version__ as VERSION
 
-app = FastAPI()
+app = FastAPI(
+    title="Lenny API",
+    description="Lenny: A Free, Open Source Lending System for Libraries",
+    version=VERSION,
+)
 
 app.include_router(api.router, prefix="/v1/api")
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    import uvicorn
     uvicorn.run("lenny.app:app", **OPTIONS)
diff --git a/lenny/configs/__init__.py b/lenny/configs/__init__.py
index c25c40c..4d74893 100644
--- a/lenny/configs/__init__.py
+++ b/lenny/configs/__init__.py
@@ -8,12 +8,10 @@
 """
 
 import os
-from dotenv import load_dotenv
 
-# Load environment variables from .env.test file
-load_dotenv(dotenv_path=".env.test", override= True)
 
-TESTING = os.environ.get("TESTING", "False").lower() == "true"
+# Determine environment
+TESTING = os.getenv("TESTING", "false").lower() == "true"
 
 # API server configuration
 DOMAIN = os.environ.get('LENNY_DOMAIN', '127.0.0.1')
@@ -37,27 +35,26 @@
     OPTIONS['ssl_keyfile'] = SSL_KEY
     OPTIONS['ssl_certfile'] = SSL_CRT
 
+DB_CONFIG = {
+    'user': os.environ.get('DB_USER', 'postgres'),
+    'password': os.environ.get('DB_PASSWORD'),
+    'host': os.environ.get('DB_HOST', 'localhost'),
+    'port': int(os.environ.get('DB_PORT', '5432')),
+    'dbname': os.environ.get('DB_NAME', 'lenny'),
+}
+
 # Database configuration
-if TESTING:
-    DB_URI = "sqlite:///:memory:"
-else:
-    DB_CONFIG = {
-    'user': os.environ.get('POSTGRES_USER', 'lenny'),
-    'password': os.environ.get('POSTGRES_PASSWORD', 'lennytest'),
-    'host': os.environ.get('POSTGRES_HOST', 'postgres'),
-    'port': int(os.environ.get('POSTGRES_PORT', '5432')),
-    'dbname': os.environ.get('POSTGRES_DB', 'lending_system'),
-    }
-    DB_URI = 'postgresql+psycopg2://{user}:{password}@{host}:{port}/{dbname}'.format(**DB_CONFIG) 
+DB_URI = (
+    "sqlite:///:memory:" if TESTING else
+    'postgresql+psycopg2://{user}:{password}@{host}:{port}/{dbname}'.format(**DB_CONFIG)
+)            
 
 # MinIO configuration
 S3_CONFIG = {
-    'access_key': os.environ.get('S3_ACCESS_KEY', os.environ.get('MINIO_ROOT_USER')),
-    'secret_key': os.environ.get('S3_SECRET_KEY', os.environ.get('MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD')),
-    'endpoint': f"{os.environ.get('MINIO_HOST', 'minio')}:{os.environ.get('MINIO_PORT', '9000')}",
-    'secure': False,
-    'public_bucket': os.environ.get('MINIO_BUCKET', 'lenny') + "-public",
-    'protected_bucket': os.environ.get('MINIO_BUCKET', 'lenny') + "-protected",
+    'endpoint': os.environ.get('S3_ENDPOINT'),
+    'access_key': os.environ.get('MINIO_ROOT_USER'),
+    'secret_key': os.environ.get('MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD'),
+    'secure': os.environ.get('S3_SECURE', 'false').lower() == 'true',
 }
 
 __all__ = ['DOMAIN', 'HOST', 'PORT', 'DEBUG', 'OPTIONS', 'DB_URI', 'DB_CONFIG','S3_CONFIG', 'TESTING']
diff --git a/lenny/models/__init__.py b/lenny/models/__init__.py
index c836ae1..8a726ad 100644
--- a/lenny/models/__init__.py
+++ b/lenny/models/__init__.py
@@ -8,26 +8,42 @@
 """
 
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine
-from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker, declarative_base
-from lenny.configs import DB_URI, TESTING
+from sqlalchemy.orm import scoped_session, sessionmaker
+from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
+from minio import Minio
+
+from lenny.configs import DB_URI, S3_CONFIG, DEBUG
 
 Base = declarative_base()
 
-if TESTING:
-    engine = create_engine("sqlite:///:memory:", connect_args={'check_same_thread': False})
-    Base.metadata.creat_all(bind=engine)
-else:
-    engine = create_engine(DB_URI)
-    
-SessionLocal = sessionmaker(autocommit=False, autoflush=False, bind=engine)
-
-def get_db():
-    session = SessionLocal()
-    try:
-        yield session
-    finally:
-        session.close()
-        if TESTING:
-            engine.dispose()
-
-__all__ = ["Base", "SessionLocal", "get_db", "engine"]
\ No newline at end of file
+# Configure Database Connection
+engine = create_engine(DB_URI, echo=DEBUG, client_encoding='utf8')
+db = scoped_session(sessionmaker(bind=engine, autocommit=False, autoflush=False))
+
+# Configure S3 Connection
+s3 = Minio(
+    endpoint=S3_CONFIG["endpoint"],
+    access_key=S3_CONFIG["access_key"],
+    secret_key=S3_CONFIG["secret_key"],
+    secure=S3_CONFIG["secure"],
+)
+
+# Instantiate s3 buckets
+for bucket_name in ["bookshelf-public", "bookshelf-encrypted"]:
+    if not s3.bucket_exists(bucket_name):
+        s3.make_bucket(bucket_name)
+        # Setting public read-only policy
+        policy = {
+            "Version": "2012-10-17",
+            "Statement": [
+                {
+                    "Effect": "Allow",
+                    "Principal": {"AWS": ["*"]},
+                    "Action": ["s3:GetObject"],
+                    "Resource": [f"arn:aws:s3:::{bucket_name}/*"]
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+        s3.set_bucket_policy(bucket_name, json.dumps(policy))
+
+__all__ = ["Base", "db", "s3", "engine"]
diff --git a/lenny_TEMPLATE.env b/lenny_TEMPLATE.env
deleted file mode 100644
index a34f1b7..0000000
--- a/lenny_TEMPLATE.env
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-
-# Copy this file to `lenny.env` (which is in .gitignore and should not be checked in)
-
-# FastAPI App
-LENNY_DOMAIN=
-LENNY_HOST=0.0.0.0
-LENNY_PORT=8080
-LENNY_WORKERS=1
-LENNY_LOG_LEVEL=debug
-LENNY_RELOAD=0
-LENNY_DEBUG=1
-LENNY_SSL_CRT=
-LENNY_SSL_KEY=
-
-# PostgreSQL
-POSTGRES_USER=lenny
-POSTGRES_HOST=127.0.0.1
-POSTGRES_PASSWORD=
-POSTGRES_DB=lending_system
-
-# MinIO (S3)
-MINIO_ROOT_USER=
-MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=
-MINIO_BUCKET=lenny
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 7a77804..159cf88 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,12 +1,33 @@
+annotated-types==0.7.0
+anyio==4.9.0
+argon2-cffi==23.1.0
+argon2-cffi-bindings==21.2.0
+certifi==2025.4.26
+cffi==1.17.1
+charset-normalizer==3.4.2
+click==8.2.0
+dotenv==0.9.9
 fastapi==0.115.4
-uvicorn==0.32.0
-pydantic==2.9.2
-SQLAlchemy==2.0.39
+greenlet==3.2.2
+h11==0.16.0
+idna==3.10
+minio==7.2.9
 psycopg2-binary==2.9.10
-pyyaml==6.0.2
+pycparser==2.22
+pycryptodome==3.22.0
+pydantic==2.9.2
+pydantic_core==2.23.4
+python-dotenv==1.1.0
+PyYAML==6.0.2
 requests==2.32.3
 python-dotenv==1.1.0
 typing_extensions==4.12.2
 minio==7.2.9
 pytest==7.4.2
-psycopg2==2.9.10
\ No newline at end of file
+psycopg2==2.9.10
+sniffio==1.3.1
+SQLAlchemy==2.0.39
+starlette==0.41.3
+typing_extensions==4.12.2
+urllib3==2.4.0
+uvicorn==0.32.0