St. John’s College Meem Library is committed to upholding the tenets put forth in the American Library Associations Library Bill of Rights and Code of Ethics. It is the policy of Meem Library that the privacy of all users shall be respected in compliance with these professional standards as well as federal and state laws. The library staff will not reveal the identities of individual users or reveal what information sources or services they consult. This policy applies to all resources regardless of their format or means of delivery as well as to all services offered by the Library. However, the College reserves the right to monitor College-owned computers.

Only the patron and the appropriate library staff may access a patrons record. Anyone else requesting patron information must present a court order to the Library Director. Please note that confidential library records are subject to disclosure pursuant to lawful process, and the USA PATRIOT Act expands the authority of federal law enforcement to gain access to educational and library records, including stored electronic data and communications. The USA PATRIOT Act also expands the ways in which law enforcement officials may track Internet usage and conduct computer network surveillance. Although the USA PATRIOT Act may expand the scope of inquiries by law enforcement into library records, the Library is committed to preserving patrons rights to privacy and confidentiality and will ensure proper procedures are followed during these inquiries.

The Library’s record retention policy is available upon request. The Library will neither collect nor retain information identifying individuals except during the period when and only for the purpose that such a record is necessary to furnish a specific service (for example, loaning a book, ordering a report, recording patron recommendations). Data on individuals will not be shared with third parties except to the extent permitted or required by law. An explanation of how this policy applies to specific services follows.

Circulation

We comply with the New Mexico Library Privacy Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). It is the policy of the Library that the privacy of all borrowers of library materials shall be respected. The Library will not reveal the names of individual borrowers nor reveal what materials are, or have been, charged to any individual except when permitted or required by law. The Library maintains only current circulation records. However, records of overdue and damaged materials may be maintained for billing purposes.

Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery

Requestors of interlibrary loan and document delivery services receive the same protection in terms of confidentiality of their requests. In some cases, a requestors name is shared with other library staff for collection development purposes. A requestors personally identifiable information will not be shared outside the Library. Based on the records retention policy, documentation of requests may be retained for three years for the Library to comply with auditing, copyright or other regulations.

Reference Services

Reference services are confidential and information about individuals using these services will not be shared outside the Library. Library staff will not reveal the identity of library users, the nature of their inquiries, nor the information or sources they consult. Data about reference services may be recorded for one year for collection

Collection Development

Purchase recommendations, gifts-in-kind, and special requests are used by the Library in the collection development process. Such items are deemed confidential and are not shared outside the Library. Within the Library, user names are temporarily attached to internal records and shared among relevant staff to facilitate notification of purchase and availability.

College Archives

Materials in the College Archives are permanent records. Certain files are confidential, and patrons must obtain written permission from the appropriate College office to view these records. Other reference queries regarding archival materials are protected by the same policy applying to general reference queries.

Public Access Computers

The use of the Library’s public access computers is regulated by the Library’s Public Computer Use Policy and the Information Technology Departments Computer Center/Network Policy Statement (available upon request). St. John’s College reserves the right to monitor all College-owned computers, including the Library’s public access terminals. Due to the nature of the Internet, privacy of use is not guaranteed.