Privacy

Students using the school library have a right to privacy of the information they access in the library. Imagine the following scenario:

//A 4th grade student wants to check out Book 3 in the series he is reading. You look it up in the catalog but find it is checked out by another student, and you tell the 4th grader this. "Who has it checked out?" asks the student. What do you do?//

The American Library Association has this to say:

//"School library media specialists have an ethical obligation to protect and promote student privacy.... Students who use school libraries need to learn about the concepts of privacy and confidentiality. They may not know the dangers of sharing personally identifiable information with others. School library media specialists may face the situation of an adult asking for information pertaining to students' library use. These situations must be handled in accordance with all school and library policies. In an ideal situation, that information would not be released. Teachers should not be able to "check" on students to see if they have borrowed assigned readings or used specific resources."//

For more information about the ALA stance on privacy in school libraries, [|read the full article].

Libraries have an important responsibility to protect the privacy of library users, and as a library volunteer, you play an important role in upholding this privacy. **Please do not ever give out information on a patron's library use to anyone other than that patron.** Students have the right to feel safe seeking information in the library, and they typically do not even know they are entitled to this right. If you are uncertain about a situation involving patron privacy, please refer the situation to Ms. Case.

A school this small poses some particular challenges in maintaining library privacy. Students are very comfortable at MVS, and like to look at the computer screen when you are checking things out, or root through the hold shelf even when they have nothing on hold. Please help remind students to respect the privacy of others, and remember to do little things like putting holds with the back cover (rather than the front cover) facing out.

(Ohio is one of only 15 states that __does__ give a child's parent/guardian the right to view circulation records of their children under age 18.)