I found the following on the ALA's page: Questions and Answers on Privacy and Confidentiality - about 3/4 of the way down the page - that concurs with Dr. Todero's opinion of requesting prior approval to share the information. Probably would also be wise to have Board approved policy stating you would only be sharing with library support groups. James James A. Karney, Director Waco-McLennan County Library 1717 Austin Ave. ~ Waco, Texas 76701 254-750-5946 ~ Fax 254-750-5940 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=interpretations&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=34114 Can circulation or registration information be used for other library purposes, such as to generate mailing lists for fund-raising by the library or its Friends group? The Fair Information Practice Principles of "Notice and Openness" and "Choice and Consent" should be reflected in library privacy policies. See "How to Draft a Library Privacy Policy." Some states impose restrictions on the use of personally identifiable information (PII) for any purposes other than circulation or administration. In other states it is illegal to provide library user PII to any third party except under court order. (See "State Privacy Laws Regarding Library Records"). In all states, regardless of the status of the law, library policies regarding the collection, use and dissemination of PII should be carefully formulated and administered to ensure that they do not conflict with the ALA Code of Ethics that states "we protect each user's right to privacy and confidentiality." Libraries choosing to use PII for any library-related purpose other than for which the PII was gathered should consider the following standard "opt-in" practices: * Notice should be provided to all users of any library use of PII. * Any use of PII beyond circulation or administration should be authorized only on an opt-in basis. At the time of registration, users should be asked to opt-in to additional and specifically enumerated uses of their PII (e.g., for fund-raising appeals). The PII of those who decline to 'opt-in' should not made available for any additional uses. * Any time a library decides to extend use of PII in ways not already authorized, it must seek user opt-in. Libraries should presume that all non-responders wish to opt out of the new use. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Laurie Mahaffey Sent: Friday, October 31, 2008 8:13 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [ctls-l] FW: [slm] Patron mailing list I hope Dr. Todaro won't mind if I share her answer below to Blanco's question, which appeared on 3 lists. ;-) Happy Halloween, everyone! Laurie Laurie Mahaffey, Deputy Director Central Texas Library System, Inc. 1005 West 41st Street Austin, Texas 78756 www.ctls.net [EMAIL PROTECTED] 512-583-0704 x18 800-252-4431 x18 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Julie Todaro Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 7:56 PM To: Small Library Management Training Program Subject: Re: [slm] Patron mailing list MANY groups query all those signing up for their services re: "can we share your contact information and/or email with others?" In the absence of that query to date, you might want to think twice and NOT give the friends your mailing list and now begin the process of asking returning and new people from now on...whether or not they mind if you share their name...if you do this, I would ask them if you could share their name ONLY with other library-related groups and then give them a "such as"...library friends, library foundation, etc. --- On Thu, 10/30/08, Blanco Library <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Blanco Library <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [slm] Patron mailing list To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008, 7:07 PM Can anyone direct me to a legal or ethical mandate which would preclude allowing the Friends group to use our patron mailing list for a membership drive? Clearly we cannot share any patron info re use of library, books read, websites visited, etc. I'm talking simply about names and addresses of adult patrons. Thanks! Lynne Loeffler Blanco Library
