A. It is the policy of The St Tammany Parish Public Library to protect the privacy of those who use the Library. To receive borrowing privileges, the library must obtain certain information about a borrower in order to provide a library account. All staff members shall protect information about Library borrowers, their requests for information, materials, any online sites and resources they access, and their loan transactions, and shall not transmit such information to any individual or to any private or public agency without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction, or as otherwise required by law (See below for Louisiana Revised Statute 44:13 Registration Records and other Records of use Maintained by Libraries.)
B. Users may conduct only legal activities while using library resources and services. Nothing in this statement prevents the library from exercising its right to enforce its rules, protect its facilities, and network and equipment from harm, or prevent the use of library facilities and equipment for illegal purposes. Staff is authorized to take immediate action to protect the security of library users, staff, facilities, computers and the network. This includes contacting law enforcement authorities and providing information that may identify the individual(s) perpetrating a violation.
Louisiana Revised Statute 44:13 Registration Records and other Records of use Maintained by Libraries
A. Notwithstanding any provisions of this Chapter or any other law to the contrary, records of any library which is in whole or in part supported by public funds, including the records of public, academic, school, and special libraries, and the State Library of Louisiana, indicating which of its documents or other materials, regardless of format, have been loaned to or used by an identifiable individual or group of individuals may not be disclosed except to a parent or custodian of a minor child seeking access to that child's records, to persons acting within the scope of their duties in the administration of the library, to persons authorized in writing by the individual or group of individuals to inspect such records, or by order of a court of law.
B. Notwithstanding any provisions of this Chapter or any other law to the contrary, records of any such library which are maintained for purposes of registration or for determining eligibility for the use of library services may not be disclosed except as provided in Subsection A of this Section.
C. No provision of this Section shall be so construed as to prohibit or hinder any library or any business office operating jointly with a library from collecting overdue books, documents, films, or other items and/or materials owned or otherwise belonging to such library, nor shall any provision of this Section be so construed as to prohibit or hinder any such library or business office from collecting fines on such overdue books, documents, films, or other items and/or materials.
D. No provision of this Section shall be so construed as to prohibit or hinder any library or librarian from providing information to appropriate law enforcement officers investigating criminal activity in the library witnessed by an employee or patron of the library and reported by the administrative librarian to the appropriate law enforcement officials.
(1) The term "criminal activity in the library", as used in this Subsection, shall mean an activity which constitutes a crime, or otherwise constitutes an offense or violation of any law or ordinance, occurring:
(a) Within any library building,
(b) Upon any library property, or
(c) Near a library and the proximity of such activity to a library or library property constitutes an element of the offense.
(2) The term "information", as used in this Subsection shall include but not be limited to electronic data files, security surveillance video tapes, or other records or materials which may constitute evidence which would assist law enforcement officers in identifying the individual or group of individuals who may have committed criminal activity in the library.
Added by Acts 1983, No. 523, §1; Acts 1991, No. 938, §4; Acts 2001, No. 528, §1.
