diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 9dc9257..3b975a2 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ dependencies = [
     "madsci.node_module>=0.1.9",
     "madsci.client>=0.1.9",
     "madsci.common>=0.1.9",
-    "numpy<2"
+    "numpy<2",
+    "pyzbar",
 ]
 requires-python = ">=3.9.1"
 readme = "README.md"
diff --git a/src/camera_rest_node.py b/src/camera_rest_node.py
index c973c37..aeaa0fd 100644
--- a/src/camera_rest_node.py
+++ b/src/camera_rest_node.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from madsci.common.types.action_types import ActionResult, ActionSucceeded
 from madsci.node_module.helpers import action
 from madsci.node_module.rest_node_module import RestNode
+from pyzbar.pyzbar import decode
 
 from camera_config import CameraConfig
 
@@ -49,6 +50,44 @@ def take_picture(
 
         return ActionSucceeded(files={"image": temp_file_path})
 
+    @action
+    def read_barcode(
+        self,
+        focus: Optional[int] = None,
+        autofocus: Optional[bool] = None,
+    ) -> ActionResult:
+        """
+        Takes an image and returns the values of any barcodes present in the image. Camera focus can be adjusted using the provided parameters if necessary.
+
+        Args:
+            camera (cv2.VideoCapture): The camera object to adjust focus for.
+            focus (Optional[int]): The desired focus value (used if autofocus is disabled).
+            autofocus (Optional[bool]): Whether to enable or disable autofocus.
+
+        Returns:
+            ActionSucceded regardless of if barcode is collected or not.
+            Barcode field in ActionResult data dictionary will contain 'None' if no barcode was collected
+
+        """
+        try:
+            # take an image and collect the image path
+            action_result = self.take_picture(focus=focus, autofocus=autofocus)
+            image_path = action_result.files["image"]
+
+            # try to collect the barcode from the image
+            image = cv2.imread(image_path)
+            barcode = None
+
+            all_detected_barcodes = decode(image)
+            if all_detected_barcodes:
+                # Note: only collects the first in a potential list of barcodes
+                barcode = all_detected_barcodes[0].data.decode("utf-8")
+
+        except Exception as e:
+            raise e
+
+        return ActionSucceeded(data={"barcode": barcode})
+
     def adjust_focus_settings(
         self,
         camera: cv2.VideoCapture,