Knowledge Base: Library Policies

The Elk Point Municipal Library and its board and staff are subject to the Libraries Act and Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP).

1. Library board members, staff, and volunteers will only collect patrons' personal information when it is required for the purpose of delivering public library services.

2. No records are kept of the frequency or content of visits to the library by specific patrons.

3. No records are kept of a cardholder's items checkout history, unless the cardholder has given written permission for this record to be kept. If this record is kept, it is subject to disclosure with the cardholder's other records under the conditions described in points 4 and 8.

4. Library staff, board members, and volunteers will not disclose a patron's personal information to a third party without the individual's consent, except:

1. 1. In response to a court order ;(e.g. subpoena, search warrant) or another specific written request for a law enforcement agency to assist in an investigation. Note that library representatives are only required to disclose personal to law enforcement officers upon presentation of a written court order. They are not required to comply with other written requests.
   2. In partnership with other Alberta libraries and library systems for the purposes od sharing materials under conditions defined in existing resource sharing agreements and programs (e.g. interlibrary loan agreements, TAL Card, ME Libraries), collecting fees or fines, and borrowed materials.
   3. For the purpose of contacting next of kin or emergency response personnel in the case of an emergency.

5. Cardholders will sign a form acknowledging that their contact information will be available to other organizations for these purposes.

6. No patron information will be given over the phone.

7. Staff and volunteers are to keep confidential the reading and viewing habits of individual patrons.

8. Upon request, a library patron will be given access to all information concerning their records that the library has on file. Access to a user's records is limited to that user except where the user is a minor, or if the user has given written permission for someone else to access their records. Where a parent or guardian's signature is required for a cardholder to obtain a library card, that parent or guardian may have full access to the cardholder's records for retrieval.