Case Study: The introduction of a new computerised library management system gives the Head of Lower School an idea.  She is anxious to see an improvement in the reading levels of boys in the school.  The school has been suffering badly in SATs (Standard Attainment Tests) at stage 3, and this is having a knock-on effect on applications from feeder primary schools.  She argues that now that it is ‘relatively easy’ to ‘get the data from the computer’ she can see no harm.  She says the information will be crucial to help the English teachers encourage poor readers, but the librarian is doubtful – and stands her ground.

The editors comment...

The dilemma faced by the librarian is at first seen to be a simple conflict between her duty faithfully to serve the school’s senior staff (the Head of Lower School and the Principal), and her desire to support the improvement of pupils’ reading ability.

Underlying the librarian’s desire to support the pupils is an implicit duty to protect their confidentiality.  The librarian, as custodian of reading records, is ideally placed to limit others’ access to pupils’ records and therefore uphold their privacy.  We do not know, from the evidence provided, whether the librarian associates her decision with the incidental protection of pupils’ confidentiality; although the result may the same, the rationale seems to be based on different criteria.

Let us assume that the librarian intended also to cite protection of pupils’ privacy as a reason for withholding their borrowing records: Are, then, the Head of Lower School and Principal justified in seeking to access pupils’ records?  The reasons put forward (that the information will help to improve the English teachers’ encouragement of poor readers, and that the computer-based library management system facilitates easy access to the borrowing records) suggest that the school’s senior staff were well intentioned.  However, scrutinising borrowing records is fraught with dangers, both from a legal and an ethical perspective.

Providing management information reports (anonymised data showing, for example, which age cohorts are borrowing particular books) which do not disclose an individual’s identity may be acceptable, but the school should be cautious that only those anonymised data which are intended to be reported are generated in the first place and stored for the purpose of management information reporting.  In England and Wales the eight Data Protection Principles set out the criteria for legitimate processing of personal data, and implementation of the library management system (LMS) should be done so as to conform with those Principles (for example, so that personal data which contribute towards aggregated reports are used only for the administration of an individual library user’s borrowing and for nothing else).

Access to individual pupil’s borrowing habits by teachers should not be done by means of the LMS.  Although the system may record a pupil’s borrowing record, this should be merely for the administration of the pupil’s borrowing or, for example, to let the pupil him- or herself see which books he or she has borrowed.

In the USA the American Association of School Librarians’ Position Statement on the Confidentiality of Library Records notes that ‘…records held in libraries which connect specific individuals with specific resources, programs or services, are confidential and not to be used for purposes other than routine record keeping…’ and that ‘Libraries whose record keeping systems reveal the names of users would be in violation of the confidentiality of library record laws adopted in many states.’  Indeed, the American Library Association (2005) provides considerable guidance on privacy in libraries, including school libraries, in its Guidelines for Developing a Library Privacy Policy remarking, among other things, that ‘Teachers should not be able to "check" on students to see if they have borrowed assigned readings or used specific resources.’

Created: v0.1 01-Oct-07 : SS

Revised: v0.2 18-Oct-07 : SS   v0.3 23-Oct-07 : JG-T   v0.4 24-Oct-07 : SS   v0.5 15-Nov-07 : JG-T   v0.6 30-Nov-07 : SS   v1.0 30-Dec-07 : JGT