Davis County Library Board approves privacy policy
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By LORETTA PARK
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
FARMINGTON -- Library reading and information records are as private as medical records.
The Davis County Library Board approved a change to a policy to bring it into compliance with the state's Government Records Access and Management Act. The policy will go into effect Jan. 1, but library staff will start explaining it to patrons now.
Utah's GRAMA law classifies public library records as private. For years, any adult patron could check out items another adult family member had put on hold, said Library Director Chris Sanford.
During a recent training session, Deputy Davis County Attorney Craig Bott pointed out to library supervisors that unless the adult doing the check out had specific information about the items or the other adult's library card, library staff could not hand over the items.
"It's an obscure part of GRAMA," Bott said.
But it's important because it protects a person's First Amendment rights, Bott said.
The Davis County policy will allow parents or guardians to pick up items for children younger than 18, Sanford said.
But if an adult stops by one of the branches and asks for their spouse or adult child's items on hold, they will need one of the following: item-specific information, the other adult's library card, legal power of attorney or a notarized statement authorizing the check out.
The type of information an adult needs to check out items for an adult relative could include the author's name or title of the book, Sanford said.
"It's up to the adult to part the veil of privacy," Sanford said.
Weber County Library has had a similar policy in place for years, said Director Lynnda Wangsgard.
"The majority of people don't care if their spouse knows what they're reading," Wangsgard said.
But it's those who may want information on topics like domestic violence, addiction, divorce or child abuse who prefer to keep it private, she said.
"Their partner may not be quite ready to take the problem or could be the source of the problem," Wangsgard said.
The law also helps keep a professional relationship between patrons and library staff who may be neighbors, she said.
What a person reads is private, Bott said. The law also protects the library patron from government entities that may want to find out what someone is reading.
Bott said the law is no different than the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPPA.
When HIPPA became law, pharmacies were not allowed to let adults pick up another adult family member's prescription without the proper notification, Bott said.
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