Category: Policies
So Your Second Cousin is a Criminal, and Other DNA Privacy Concerns
DNA from direct-to-consumer kits can help you find your ancestors–and potentially help law enforcement find you. See how genetic data raises privacy concerns even as it restores justice.
Safety in Libraries: a Continuum
I’d like to offer an approach I’ll call the continuum of safety, offered from the perspective of the patron, the person who uses the library but is not a member of the staff. My goal is to establish a framework for the supervision of public space, in keeping with the values of the profession.
Auditing the First Amendment at Your Public Library
A growing number of public libraries are reporting that individuals are visiting their buildings to film and photograph library staff and library users, on the grounds that libraries are “public spaces.” Here’s what the law says.
Viewpoint Discrimination
Librarians might not be public officials and this case might not apply to our social media accounts, but does that automatically mean that librarians should make it a practice to block people based on differences in viewpoint?
The Library is a Growing Organism: Resources for Weeding Collections
Libraries can’t grow if they aren’t weeded. The fifth Ranganathan Law states “The library is a growing organism.” With professional resources and a statement of support, ALA and the Oregon Library Association reinforce the professional deselection standards used by the Salem Public Library.
New Jersey parents upset at reduced access to books
Parents in Mahwah, NJ are expressing distress that the school district has, in their view, reduced student access to books in the school libraries.
Dispatches from the Houghton Library, Part Two: Who’s In and Who’s Out?
Are admissions policies at the world’s most exclusive colleges fair? How do they even determine what “fair” is? And does this presence or absence of fairness affect our intellectual freedom?
Appeasement Doesn’t Work
Some of the lessons we learn in our professional career are painful. And to all of you have made a decision you regret, I say: Welcome to the club. The best response is to learn from those decisions. The takeaway here: our policies articulate our values. Let’s not throw them away just because someone yells at us. Let’s live them.
The Fine Line: Ethical and Intellectual-Freedom Implications of Charging Our Patrons
Is it unethical to charge library fines? The current landscape in public and other libraries shows that there’s no one way to handle it, but trends are moving in favor of patrons.
Book of Oatmeal.com comic strips defaced as ‘filthy’ and ’18+’ by non-borrower
The adult services staff received a package in the mail presented as if it were an ILL. Upon opening it, Jamie Dacyczyn found a paperback book, cataloged in the Teen Comics section, wrapped in white bandage tape with the words “filthy” and “not suited for children” and “18+” written on the tape. It also came with a 4”x 6” lined unsigned post-it note explaining how this books was found at a camp for children and it is totally inappropriate for teens, etc.