Laurel

Johnson
Advocacy Assignment
LIS 777
Thom Barthelmess

Letter to Library Board of Trustees
Regarding: privacy rights of young adult library patrons


At this time, the DeClue Public Library allows for circulation records of
patrons under the age of 18 to be disclosed upon parental request. As a library
community, we are dedicated to ensuring the freedom of inquiry for all of our
patrons; we are in the business of protecting, not suppressing, access to information.
When we deny the rights of young people to explore library materials without fear
of monitoring, we are compromising their ability to access our resources, and in
effect betraying some of our highest ideals.

With the development of the DeClue Public Librarys successful teen
department, we have made leaps and bounds in procuring high quality materials for
our young adult patrons. Our new teen programs, including our young adult fiction
book club and library murder mystery nights, have had record attendance in the
past year on average, program participation by teenage patrons is up by 185% as
of January 1st, 2013. In improving the young adult materials collection and bringing
in teen librarians, we have been able to open up the DeClue Public Library to a
population that had been overlooked for quite some time. Our remarkable teen
services have garnered media attention from the Brooks-Johnson County Times, the
Huffington Post, and Public Libraries Online, giving the entire library much-
deserved recognition. With the support of the Board of Trustees, this library has
become an institution that extends the same high standard of services and materials
to teens as it does to adults and younger children. As a result, we are seeing more
patrons between the ages of 13 and 18 than ever coming into the library to benefit
from our resources.
Young people, like adults, often depend on the library for reliable
information on all kinds of sensitive matters, including sexual health, relationships,
and drugs and alcohol. Confidentiality is an enormous factor when it comes to
access to library materials, and this is something that is universally accepted when it
comes to our adult patrons. As teenagers grow and navigate major issues, the
librarys resources have the potential to be hugely beneficial. Conversely, when
circulation records are released to parents, having accessed certain materials can
cause serious problems for teenagers. Consider, for instance, a seventeen-year-old
young woman who comes in to use the library collection to check out a book on
domestic violence, because she is being abused at home. In this case, parental access
puts the information of her library use into the hands of her abusers. Even in
situations when physical safety is unlikely to be compromised, a great deal of
emotional harm can come to our young adult patrons as a result of this policy. It is
for the same reasons that we protect the circulation records of our adult patrons.


We recognize the complicated nature of the matter, and we share in the
desire for the safety and wellbeing for all of the young people of this community. It
is that concern for wellbeing that drives us to openly recognize the detrimental
effects of limiting the privacy rights of minors. We strongly believe that young adults
deserve to expect the same level of confidentiality and privacy as adult library
patrons, and so we urge the Board of Trustees to consider altering the DeClue Public
Librarys policy and practices so that patrons aged 13 and older can establish
independent library card accounts with full privacy rights.

Sincerely,

Laurel D. Johnson
Director, DeClue Public Library
October 25, 2013