Anywhere you go these days, it seems someone or something is watching: tracking your location, monitoring your purchases, or recording your information searches. But there is one place where there are no prying eyes: Libraries offer a sanctuary of privacy in today’s interconnected world.
Outlined in such official documents as the Library Bill of Rights and the Confidentiality of Records, Johnson County Library is committed to providing free access to information with as few barriers as possible.
“There are many good reasons people want privacy,” said Adam Wathen, associate director of Branch Services for Johnson County Library. “We don’t want to judge why someone wants information or how they will use it.”
Wathen said the strong emphasis on patron privacy has its roots in the so-called McCarthy Era of post-World War II when many Americans were pursued for what were considered their un-American ideologies. In response to this, the American Library Association in 1953 issued its Freedom to Read statement:
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack … We trust the people of this nation to make their own decision about what to read and believe.
The statement, of course, was not the end to the threat to library freedom. Wathen said after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon, some government officials tried to use the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act to access citizens’ library records.
“The libraries said ‘No’ and we put up even stronger barriers to protect our patrons’ records,” he said. “If people fear for their privacy, it will endanger their access to information, and we need to protect that.”
One result of these practices is that the Library does not have record of what patrons have checked out and returned. While the item is checked out, there is an electronic record that ties that particular item to the patron’s account. But the minute it is returned, the record is erased.
“You can see what items you have currently checked out, but once you return it, that record is gone,” Wathen said.
Thanks to technology, Library staff doesn’t need to take any actions to make that happen, removing even further the staff from connecting materials to a particular patron. In most cases, while material rolls along the returned-items conveyor belt, the RFID chip attached to it communicates with the computer databases and wipes the check-out record from the patron’s account before library staff even touches the returned item.
While patron privacy is protected, there are some potential inconveniences that can arise from the system. One is that if a library user wants a list of all items they have checked out, they need to keep one themselves … the Library has no such record. Another complication is that people often leave personal items inside books or other material cases when they are returned. When the staff finds such items – family pictures, money, sentimental bookmarks – they have no way of knowing who had the book most recently. The staff does sometimes try to reunite patrons with their materials through social media posts and by keeping a lost-and-found collection.
Not all items are returned, however. According to an episode of the Johnson County Library podcast “Did You Hear” from December 2019, Library staff found what appeared to be a bag of marijuana inside a returned item. A couple of days later, a patron called and asked if they had found some “oregano” he had left behind. Staff told the person the green leafy material had been turned over to the Overland Park police department for disposal … but the patron’s identity had not been divulged because staff did not know who left behind the “oregano.”
Privacy extends beyond materials that are checked out, Wathen explained. He said Library computers are programmed to automatically delete search and history information whenever a user logs off.
The Library does retain some information about books and other materials circulation, as well as the demographics of Library users. This information is used for planning purposes and to help Library staff know what materials are popular, and what kinds of and how much information it needs to have available. The information it keeps, however, is de-identified and not connected to any particular patron.
A patron’s library use data is exempt from state public record laws.
The Johnson County Library Bill of Rights makes the privacy mission clear:
All people, regardless of origin, age, background and views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use. Libraries should advocate for, educate about and protect people’s privacy, safeguarding all library use data …
“We do not want to have barriers to people accessing the information they want,” Wathen said. “If people don’t have privacy, then the information is no longer free.
“If a fear of privacy is a barrier, we need to remove that.”
Johnson County Library is committed to protecting patron privacy, ensuring that everyone can access information freely and without barriers. To learn more about the mission, vision and values of the Library, visit jocolibrary.org/about.