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Guidelines to Maintain the Confidentiality of Patron Records
It is the policy of Spokane Falls Community College to protect the privacy of those who use the Library. The general policy of the SFCC Library shall be to retain only the minimum information necessary to establish a patron's eligibility to borrow materials and to respond to patron requests. Non-essential records shall be deleted as soon as practicable, or on a regular basis.
Staff members and work-study students shall protect information about Library borrowers, their requests for information and materials, the online sites and resources they access, and their loan transactions, and shall not give out such information to individuals or to any private or public agency without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction, or as otherwise required by law (RCW 42.17.310.)
- Staff members shall hold in complete confidence borrower information gained in the course of performing their work.
- Staff members shall be responsible for protecting records in borrower files within the library system, and borrower records being purged from the files.
- Work-study students and Library Technician students shall protect borrower information to which they have access in the course of carrying out their assignments.
- Library managers shall be responsible for assuring that borrower records and information inquiries are protected from disclosure to other than authorized persons, and for enforcing this policy and approving any exceptions to these procedures.
Information not to be revealed (unless so ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction) includes, but is not limited to:
- A borrower's name, phone number, or other personal information.
- Information about whether a borrower has a library card or has used the library at any time.
- A user's search history using the library's electronic resources, such as the internet, online databases, or search engines and related information, including frequency of use and library card number used to access the library's electronic resources.
- Information about materials checked out to a borrower or used by a borrower in the library.
- Information about the content of a borrower's information inquiries.
The following restrictions shall apply to the access and use of borrower and item records:
- Files shall be accessed only by authorized staff members and only when such access is related to their work assignments.
- Information about a borrower shall not be transmitted by telephone to persons who are not authorized Library Staff members.
- If a Library Staff member telephones a borrower to notify him/her concerning reserves, interlibrary loans, or overdue materials, a message left with a third party shall only state openly that requested Library materials are available or that materials are overdue. Specific item information shall not be given.
- Authorized staff shall produce a printed list of items on loan to a borrower when such a list is requested in writing or in person by that borrower.
- For purposes of compiling statistics, borrower information linked with specific item information shall not be displayed or listed.
Policy in effect since April 5, 2002
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