Category Archives: IFC

Intellectual Freedom Committee

New Confidentiality Statute

Librarians have many questions about the new Confidentiality Statute that becomes effective July 1, 2008.

State Librarian, Sybil McShane asked the Attorney General to review the law in reference to existing statutes and in consideration of some of the questions we have. Once the AG’s office has reported back we will provide more specific guidelines for implementation to all VLA members, VT Libraries and Trustees. VLAIFC will offer policy writing workshops throughout the state for the above mentioned groups in the near future.

An updated sample public library privacy and confidentiality policy is available on the website as part of the Intellectual Freedom Toolkit. It can also be found at www.sherburnelibrary.org.

Keep watching the VLA website for more information.

Gail Weymouth

VLAIFC chair

802 422 9765

Vermont House passes library patron confidentiality bill

Tuesday morning, April 29, the House voted to concur with the Senate-passed version of the library patron confidentiality bill (S. 220). Now it goes to the governor for his signature before becoming law. Please call or write your representatives and thank them for their support on this measure. Also, a big thanks to John Shullenberger for all his efforts on our behalf.

VT Senate passes library patron confidentiality bill

On Friday, Feb. 22, 2008, the Vermont Senate passed S. 220, “An act relating to the confidentiality of library patron records.”  The bill as passed largely reflects the language proposed by Vermont Library Association and Vermont School Library Association, except that it grants parental access to records of public library patrons under the age of 16.  We expect the House Judiciary to take up consideration of the companion House bill (H. 745) soon.   To track these bills, please visit the Vermont Legislative Bill Tracking System at http://www.leg.state.vt.us/database/status/status.cfm

Library confidentiality bill gets favorable committee vote–now it's on to the Senate

On Friday, Feb. 15, the Vermont Senate Government Operations Committee voted in favor of S. 220, “An Act Relating to the Confidentiality of Library Patron Records.”  The bill now goes to the full Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 19.  VLA members are encouraged to call or send e-mail messages to their senators asking them to support the bill.  S. 220 is quite similar to our proposed bill, except that the committee amended it to allow parental/guardian access to the records of children under 16–even for materials that are not overdue.  FYI, here’s the VLA statement explaining the importance of confidentiality for minors:  Statement on the importance of protecting the confidentiality of minors

Library confidentiality bill gets favorable committee vote–now it’s on to the Senate

On Friday, Feb. 15, the Vermont Senate Government Operations Committee voted in favor of S. 220, “An Act Relating to the Confidentiality of Library Patron Records.”  The bill now goes to the full Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 19.  VLA members are encouraged to call or send e-mail messages to their senators asking them to support the bill.  S. 220 is quite similar to our proposed bill, except that the committee amended it to allow parental/guardian access to the records of children under 16–even for materials that are not overdue.  FYI, here’s the VLA statement explaining the importance of confidentiality for minors:  Statement on the importance of protecting the confidentiality of minors

VT Senate Government Operations Committee holds hearing on confidentiality bill

On January 17, librarians representing VLA and VSLA testified in support of S. 220, a bill to protect the confidentiality of library records. Posted here are links to testimony by Trina Magi, Susan Monmaney, and Karen Lane, a letter from a parent, and the marked-up bill showing changes requested by VLA and VSLA. For a Q&A sheet explaining the rationale behind the bill and a handout you can distribute to patrons, see the January 8 post titled “Library Confientiality Bill Introduced in VT Senate” in the Intellectual Freedom section of the VLA Web site. If you have questions or comments, please contact VLA Intellectual Freedom Committee Chair Trina Magi, 656-5723 or trina.magi@uvm.edu.

Trina Magi’s testimony

Susan Monmaney’s testimony

Karen Lane’s testimony

Sandra Lindberg’s letter

Bill with changes requested by VLA and VSLA

Greetings from the ALA Midwinter Conference in Philadelphia!

I had the good fortune yesterday to attend a presentation at which Bassem Youssef , FBI whistleblower, spoke.  Mr. Youssef is the highest ranking Arab American at the FBI and oversees the department that monitors National Security Letters. He is a decorated agent who was  a trusted and respected expert in the politics and culture of the Middle East.  Shortly after the implementation of the Patriot Act Mr. Youssef noticed a dramatic change in his work environment. He believes that he has been discriminated against by the FBI because he has questioned their counter terrorism recruiting process, particularly the lack of Arabic speaking agents, and the unfettered use of National Security Letters by untrained FBI officers in the field. Before the Patriot Act National Security Letters had to be approved at the very top level of the FBI, following the passage of the Patriot Act they may be generated and served for nearly any reason. Read more→

Library Confidentiality Bill Introduced in VT Senate

We are delighted to announce that Senator Claire Ayer of Addison County has introduced S. 220, “An Act Relating to the Confidentiality of Library Patron Records,” in response to VLA’s request for a stronger and clearer law protecting the confidentiality of our library patrons. Read more→