Intellectual Freedom and Privacy
Course
Policy Checklist for Intellectual Freedom and Privacy [4:41]
- Learn how to create a selection and reconsideration policy to promote students' intellectual freedom.
- Learn to build trust with your students by enacting a student privacy policy.
- Learn to incorporate a records retention policy to remove non-essential data in a timely manner.
As outlined in lesson 2 of this workshop, it is important to have a selection policy that details your purpose and guideline for purchasing library resources. This may include requiring positive reviews and having a collection that offers a balanced perspective on topics. Part of your selection policy should also include a reconsideration policy. In the event a book or other resource is challenged by someone, you should have in writing the steps you will take to address their request. This helps promote students' intellectual freedom by having a written plan to protect their ability to read or learn freely.
A student privacy policy is helpful in maintaining rapport and trust with students. They need to know how you will keep their information safe. Before writing your own student privacy policy, consult your school district to see if one has already been created. Enacting an official student privacy policy can take some effort and most likely, school board approval. In the meantime, consider creating your own privacy guidelines and include them in your library's handbook or manual. Share your commitment to student privacy with your school community. Consult with your principal and your district's legal counsel to get feedback and approval of any official policies you adopt. Read more about how to craft a privacy policy in the resources section, specifically the American Library Association's Library Privacy Toolkit, as well as their Library Privacy Checklist for Students .
In order to operate the library efficiently, student data is recorded in a variety of ways. Some examples include sign in sheets, checkout records, and interlibrary loan requests. Other examples are email contact between librarians and students or their parents, programming sign ups, club applications, and more. Consult the vendor of your circulation system to learn about how long the system retains student records. Once this data is no longer essential for library function, these records should be destroyed, using the timeline provided in your records retention policy. Before creating your own policy, be sure to consult your school district and state policies to see what is already available. In your policy, consider listing all the ways your library collects student data, the rationale, and guidelines for records destruction. You may also include that your library follows local school district and state policies.
The policy suggestions in this lesson are just a few ways to protect our students' privacy and trust, knowing they can be themselves in our library. A selection and reconsideration policy is important for everyone to know the rationale for your collection purchases and how you will protect their intellectual freedom in the event of a challenge. Students need to know that their actions and checkouts in the library are protected by you and will be destroyed after it is no longer needed. With these policies and more, students will feel safer and you will be upholding one of your main duties as a librarian: protecting your students.
Not only is it important to protect students' intellectual freedom, but maintaining their confidentiality is vital. With a library privacy policy, all stakeholders will know how you will safeguard them and their activities in the library. Use the resource below to craft a library privacy policy.
"Library Privacy Checklist for Students in K-12 Schools", American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/privacy/checklists/students.
After reviewing the checklist, use page 11 of the handout and reflect on the following: What items are you already doing? What items do you need to work on? If your school division already has a student privacy policy, consider using this checklist to create an easy-to-understand policy to display in your library and on your website.
MLA Citation
Grover, Rachel. "Intellectual Freedom and Privacy: Creating a Library Privacy Policy." School Library Connection, May 2021, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2262945?learningModuleId=2262052&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2263784
Additional Resources
MLA Citation
Grover, Rachel. "Intellectual Freedom and Privacy. Policy Checklist for Intellectual Freedom and Privacy [4:41]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, May 2021, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2262945?learningModuleId=2262052&topicCenterId=2247902.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2262945?learningModuleId=2262052&topicCenterId=2247902
Entry ID: 2262945