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ACT NO. 129

(S.220)

Confidentiality of library patron records

This act defines a library to mean a public library as defined in 22 V.S.A. §101(2); a college, university, or school library; or any other library or archive that is open on a regular basis and makes available on site or circulates materials to the public without a fee.

The act provides that a library patron’s records either those required to be completed for borrowing privilege eligibility, or those that reveal a patron’s individual library activities, including electronic or print materials viewed, research questions posed, any materials requested through interlibrary loan or borrowed, or any other service or consultation the patron requests shall, subject to specified exemptions, remain confidential. These exemptions include: the patron’s granting permission for the record’s disclosure, the library’s disclosure of the record to its employees, volunteers, and agents to the extent necessary for administrative purposes, in response to an authorized judicial warrant directing disclosure, to custodial parents or guardians if the patron is under age 16, and with respect to a school library to the custodial parents or guardians in accordance with the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. Statistical information reporting library activities may be disclosed provided that names of patrons or other individually identifying information is not included.

The act also establishes the right of an individual patron to bring a civil action against a library that discloses the patron’s record contrary to the provisions of the law.

Effective Date: July 1, 2008.