On June 29, 2015, the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee approved a new document, 'Library Privacy Guidelines for E-book Lending and Digital Content Vendors.' The document, which outlines best practices for vendors to follow to protect the privacy of library users, is intended to encourage vendors and libraries to work together to develop effective privacy protection policies and procedures for eBook lending and the delivery of digital content to library patrons. The document was developed by the IFC Privacy Subcommittee, with input from additional ALA committees, interest groups, and roundtables with an interest in privacy.
The guidelines are now available online on the ALA website http://www.ala.org/advocacy/library-privacy-guidelines-e-book-lending-and-digital-content-vendors. The IFC Privacy Subcommittee encourages anyone with comments or questions to send correspondence to its ALA staff liaison, Deborah Caldwell-Stone in the Office for Intellectual Freedom at dstone@ala.org
The ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, a Committee of Council, recommends policies, practices, and procedures as may be necessary to safeguard the rights of library users, libraries, and librarians, in accordance with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Library Bill of Rights, as adopted by the ALA Council. The IFC Privacy Subcommittee monitors ongoing privacy developments in libraries, including technology, politics, legislation, and social trends and proposes actions to the IFC to meet the privacy needs of librarians and library users.
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom is charged with implementing ALA policies concerning the concept of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association's basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials. The goal of the office is to educate librarians and the general public about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries. OIF supports the work of the Intellectual Freedom Committee and its Privacy Subcommittee.
