Guidelines for Libraries of Government Departments - IFLA

Section 14
Obligation to Protect the Privacy of Users
14.0 Preface
In the area of privacy, government libraries need to follow the laws of their
country. However, privacy is particularly important in the use of government
information since there is more opportunity for government to know what people
are reading or are researching in their own libraries. Privacy of use of
government library resources is important whether the user is an elected member
of government, a member of government working staff, or the general public.
The major steps in protecting the privacy of users of library services are:
• Determine the national governmental policy regarding privacy of library use.
• Set the library’s own policy regarding privacy of library use including a nonpartisan
approach to the use of resources by elected and appointed officials
and staff.
• Develop procedures for library staff to follow regarding privacy of library use.
• Train staff in the philosophy behind the policy and the implementation of
processes relating to the policy.
• If it is legal to do so, a library may want to destroy records that link individuals
to government library resources as soon as the resources are returned or no
longer being used.
14.1 Determine the national governmental policy regarding
privacy of library use
The governmental authority which the library serves may already have a policy
regarding privacy in the use of government resources. For example, all states in
the United States have such a policy. As part of this, all records relating to the
use of libraries and even, in some cases, observed use of a library (i.e. the
individual asks a reference question which is answered, but there is no actual
written record relating to the question) are protected. In the U.S. access to these
records is only available by an order from a judge or court or with the specific
permission of the library user.
14.2 Set the library’s own policy regarding privacy of library use
The library’s privacy policy should be based on the law of the government
authority if such a law exists. If such a law does not exist, the library should
establish its own policy. Elements of the ideal policy should include:
a. The policy should apply to elected and appointed officials, government
staff and the general public if they use the library.
b. The library should not reveal which library materials were used by any
library user unless the request is accompanied by a court order or other
legal judgment or the specific permission of the library user.
c. The library will not reveal what information was requested by library users.
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