NorthBrook Public Library - Patron Privacy & Confidentiality

The Board of Trustees seeks to protect the privacy and confidentiality of all who use the library in the pursuit of free speech, thought and association. The Board of Trustees respects and supports an individual’s fundamental right to open inquiry without scrutiny by others.

RIGHT TO PRIVACY

The library is committed to protecting personally identifiable information. The library will not collect or maintain personal information without consent. The information gathered is used only to provide or improve library service. Library patrons have the right to access their own borrowing information through website or in person. In both instances, a library user will be required to provide proof of identity. Personally identifiable information will not be disclosed except upon a library user’s request or consent.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Illinois state law 75 ILCS 70/1 mandates the confidentiality of all records containing personally identifiable information relating to an individual’s use of the library and its resources, facilities and services. Confidentiality includes, but is not limited to, circulation of library books, periodicals and other materials, electronic resource searches, interlibrary loan transactions, reference requests and use of audio-visual materials. The library will not sell, lease or disclose confidential information to outside parties unless required to do so by law. Unless otherwise required by law, Library records containing personally identifiable information will not be made available to any agency of state, federal or local government unless a warrant, court order, or other investigatory document is issued by a court of competent jurisdiction that shows good cause and is in proper form. The Board of Trustees has authorized only the Executive Director to receive or comply with Northbrook Public Library | General Policy Manual requests from law enforcement officers. The Executive Director will confer with legal counsel before determining the proper response.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Types of personal information collected:

• Name

• Telephone number

• E-mail address

• Library barcode card number

• Date of birth

• Materials currently checked out or requested

• Overdue materials (until returned)

• Unpaid fines (until paid)

HOW WE SAFEGUARD PERSONAL INFORMATION

In order to protect your personal information the library will:

1. Avoid keeping unnecessary records.

2. Remove the correlation between personal information and materials borrowed once these items are returned.

3. Purge and shred outdated records.

4. Have security procedures that protect against loss,destruction and unauthorized access to your information.

5. Ensure that contracts and agreements with providers of electronic resources reflect our policies and legal obligations.

6. Remove from public computers daily:cookies,search histories,cached files and other records of internet use.

7. Not collect personal information from individuals using public access computers in the library.

8. Not collect personal information from individuals visiting the library website from home. Northbrook Public Library | General Policy Manual

LINKS TO OTHER SITES

The library website contains links to sites not maintained by the library. The library is not responsible for the privacy practices of any other sites. The library encourages individuals to become familiar with these privacy practices and be mindful when asked to disclose personal information.

COOKIES

The library uses cookies to facilitate access to our catalog and electronic resources. Cookies are small data files that are sent to an individual’s web browser that are then stored on a computer’s hard drive. These cookies do not collect, store or maintain a library user’s personally identifiable information. Patrons do not have to accept these cookies to visit or use website and resources. Cookies may be refused or deleted from a computer’s hard drive. In order to access the library catalog and electronic resources from home, the barcode number from the library card is required for authentication purposes. Providers of licensed electronic resources do not have access to records containing personal information. Any information collected is discarded upon logging off.

CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

The library considers the privacy and safety of children to be very important. Personal information collected by the library is not shared with any other agency or organization. Due to the ease with which children can be induced to divulge personal information on the internet, parents are urged to supervise their children’s use of the internet in the library.