Patron Privacy at The College of St. Scholastica Library

Philosophy: Intellectual Freedom
The Library and academic communities believe that the intellectual freedom of library patrons includes privacy in their use of library materials; this freedom, and the privacy which protects it, increases intellectual development and fosters the values of and skills required by a democratic society.

All students, faculty and community borrowers can expect that under most circumstances, no one outside library staff will be told the individual items which they have checked out, or web sites they have visited using library equipment. Library staff will maintain and access borrowing records to the extent needed to preserve the use of the collection for all users: for recalling materials, for identifying and retrieving overdue items, for billing patrons.

College exceptions
In the following College-specific circumstances, disclosures will be made:
*Theft issues. If a borrower is caught in possession of items that staff believe he/she was attempting to steal (remove from the Library without being checked-out), the identity of the items will form part of the report made to other campus offices. The general procedures for providing privacy for incidents in the process of investigation will be followed. For non-College patrons, the identity of the books/items will be included if a report to police is made.
*Answering machines. Library staff who contact patrons by phone will only leave non-specific messages on answering machines (e.g. "The video you requested came in.").
*"Departmental" items. From time to time faculty have left the College's employment without clearing their borrowing records. In many cases, books are checked out to that individual but the individual believes they are in the department or at the College somewhere. For department-related overdue items where the original borrower does not return the materials, the Library reserves the right to contact department chairs so that a search of offices can be made, and the department chair can determine if the materials should be replaced. It is impossible to name specific items without the department chairs being aware of who is involved. This practice will not be followed for personal items as far as they can be identified (books or other items outside the faculty member's professional department).

Legal exceptions
Minnesota law provides for privacy in state-collected information; this applies to the MINITEX interlibrary lending system. Federal law (FIRPA) protects student privacy in educational records.

However, both state and federal law dictate that library staff must provide any available information when presented with a search warrant. No information will be disclosed without the warrant, but all information must be provided when a search warrant is presented. This includes allowing law enforcement to examine hardware (e.g. public and lab computers).

The legal threshold for obtaining a search warrant is quite low; the warrant does not have to be issued locally; and library staff cannot appeal to a court to object to the warrant.

The PALS system breaks most links between patrons and the items they have charged after items are returned. Exceptions include some interlibrary loan records, and cases where a fine has been assessed. Those linkages remain retrievable for up to a year after the patron was last active.

Library staff may not disclose to any person including the patron or any organization, that a warrant has been served. (USA Patriot Act, Oct.2001).