Last updated: June 2010
Hedberg Public Library follows Wisconsin State Statute 43.30 and Wisconsin’s Personal Information Practices Act (Sections 19.62 to 19.80), statutes that protect the privacy and the confidentiality of library users.
Records containing personally identifiable information are covered by these statutes. Personally identifiable information is defined as “information that can be associated with a particular individual through one or more identifiers or other information or circumstances.” Wis. Stat. 19.65(1) Confidentiality extends to all information use. Examples include materials consulted, borrowed or requested, and includes records relating to database searches, reference interviews, interlibrary loan records and all other personally identifiable uses of library materials, facilities or services.
Under Section 43.30, library records which indicate the identity of any individual who borrows or uses the library’s documents or other materials, resources or services may only be disclosed:
- (1) with the consent of the individual library user, or
- (2) by court order, or
- (3) to custodial parents or guardians of children under the age of 16, or
- (4) to persons acting within the scope of their duties in the administration of the library, library system, or other libraries.
Hedberg Public Library complies with Sections 19.62 to 19.80, requiring libraries (and all other government organizations) to develop rules of conduct for employees involved in collecting, maintaining, using, and providing access to personally identifiable information, and to ensure that employees handling such records “know their duties and responsibilities relating to protecting personal privacy, including applicable state and federal laws.”