Statement Concerning Confidentiality of Personally
Identifiable Information About Library Users

The ethical responsibilities of librarians, and statutes in 44
states and the District of Columbia, protect the privacy of
library users. Confidentiality extends to "information sought or
received, and materials consulted, borrowed or acquired," and
includes database search records, reference interviews,
interlibrary loan records and all other personally identifiable
uses of library materials, facilities or services.

The First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech and of the
press requires that the corresponding rights to hear what is
spoken and read what is written be preserved, free from fear of
government intrusion, intimidation or reprisal. Confidentiality
is essential to protect the exercise of these rights from
governmental invasions of privacy.

Libraries are impartial resources providing information on all
points of view, available to all persons regardless of age, race,
religion, national origin, social or political views, economic
status, or any other characteristic. The role of libraries as
such resources must not be compromised by an erosion of the
privacy rights of library patrons.

The American Library Association has received several reports of
visits by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to
libraries, where agents allegedly have asked for personally
identifiable information about library patrons. These visits,
whether within the so-called "Library Awareness Program" or not,
reflect an insensitivity to the role confidentiality plays in the
preservation of First Amendment rights, rights which extend also
to foreign nationals while in the United States. The Bureau's
interest in library records reflects a dangerous and fallacious
equation of what a person reads with what that person believes or
how that person is likely to behave. This presumption is a
threat to the freedom to read. It is also a threat to a crucial
aspect of First Amendment rights: that freedom of speech and of
the press include the freedom to hold, disseminate and receive
unpopular, minority, "extreme" or even "dangerous" ideas.

The Intellectual Freedom Committee recognizes that under limited
circumstances, access to certain information might be restricted
due to a legitimate "national security" concern. However, there
has been no showing of a plausible probability that national
security will be compromised by the uses foreign nationals make
of the unclassified information available in libraries.
The Intellectual Freedom Committee also recognizes that law
enforcement agencies and officers may occasionally believe that
library records contain information which would be helpful to the
investigation of criminal activity. If there is a reasonable
basis to believe such records are necessary to the progress of an
investigation or prosecution, our judicial system provides the
mechanism for seeking release of such confidential records: the
issuance of a court order, following a showing of good cause
based on specific facts, by a court of competent jurisdiction.

January 10, 1989


Information provider:
  Unit:    American Library Association
  Email:   Edward.Valauskas@ala.org
  Posted:  24 Apr 1994