Privacy Matters



"Privacy Matters" is a new column introduced with the September issue of School Library Media Activities Monthly, will discuss a question or issue related to privacy in school library media center in each issue. This month's column considers what privacy means in a school library media center.

Confidentiality

by Helen R. Adams

Helen Adams is a former school librarian and technology coordinator in Wisconsin and currently an online instructor for Mansfield University teaching Access and Legal Issues for the Information Age. A frequent conference presenter, she is the author of School Media Policy Development and co-author of Privacy in the 21st Century: Issues for Public, School, and Academic Libraries, Libraries Unlimited.

In a library context, the term, privacy, is defined as "the right to engage in open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others" (American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom 2005, 402). Closely associated with this term is the term confidentiality. Library records hold much personally identifiable information about student patrons, and the library media specialist is often privy through observation and interaction with students to additional knowledge about them. "Confidentiality exists when a library [and its staff]…keeps that information private on their [patrons'] behalf" (American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom 2005, 402). The library community has a strong commitment to providing and protecting the privacy of students using school libraries. This obligation is evident in American Library Association (ALA) and American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) policy statements.

The ALA Code of Ethics states:
"We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted" (American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom 2005, 245).

The AASL "Position Statement on the Confidentiality of Library Records" further affirms:
"The library community recognizes that children and youth have the same rights to privacy as adults" (http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/
positionstatements/aaslpositionstatementconfidentiality.htm).

It should be noted, however, that the right of privacy for minors is not always supported in state or federal laws.

What expectations of privacy and confidentiality, therefore, may students have in a school library media center? The first expectation is that all students will be granted the right to read and borrow from the library collection free of scrutiny regardless of age. Like adult library users, students must feel confident that their privacy will be respected in the school library. They need to know that the school library staff will keep the titles of books checked out, interlibrary loan requests made, and reference questions asked confidential.

The second expectation of students using school libraries is the right not only to seek information but also to have the subject of their research remain private. Since school library media centers provide both curricular and recreational resources, this is the one place in a school where a student can freely investigate topics of individual interest. The Supreme Court has ruled that minors' First Amendment liberties include the right to receive information. The policy statement, "Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights" from the ALA website reminds us that as library media professionals we are obligated "to an ethic of facilitating, not monitoring access to information" (http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=
interpretations&Template=/ContentManagement/
ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=103219).

Not only should school library media specialists protect student patrons' privacy in using the library, but they should also educate them about how to guard their own privacy in the cyber and physical day-to-day worlds. Development of an effective school library media center privacy policy should tell patrons what data is collected about them, how it is used, and how their privacy will be protected. In addition to these privacy concerns connected with library media center use, library media professionals must also help school administrators and teachers understand student privacy rights under state and federal laws. In summary, all students using a school library media center should be extended the maximum privacy possible under state and federal laws, the ALA Code of Ethics, and best practice.

Watch for next month's column which will address the question of "what should a library media specialist do if a parent, a teacher or the principal asks what a student has checked out from the school library?"

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