Protecting Intellectual Freedom in Your Public Library

I'm a Trustee at my local library district and wanted to a resource that could delve into privacy and confidentiality issues. Specifically, the library Board recently considered making young adult (ages 12-18) library circulation data unavailable to parents with the exception of handling fines. In other words, provide young people confidentiality as they are learning about the world and moving towards adulthood.

Some Board members, including myself, felt this was the right way to go. Other Board members felt that parents stood always be able to access full details of their children's checkouts. The topic was returned to Committee to be rewritten.

However, something kept niggling at me. So, I found “Protecting Intellectual Freedom” published by the ALA at another library. Chapter 6 specifically addresses confidentiality and privacy considerations, along with applicable cases/laws, scenarios, and sample policies. It was exactly the reference I was looking for and even alluded to Illinois law, which is where my library is located.

I skimmed the rest of the book and found a number of similarly interesting and useful discussions that would be great for library staff, administration, boards, and the general public.