Policy

The Branch District Library makes every effort to respect the privacy of its patrons. No private information will be released to law enforcement agencies without a subpoena, warrant, or other proper legal request. The Library Director, or the Director’s designee, are the only Library Staff authorized to respond to such requests.

Procedure

If Library Staff are approached by a law enforcement officer with a request for information, they should disclose no information. Library Staff should immediately refer the officer to the Library Director or the Director’s designee.

The Library Director should ask the officer for identification and will consult with the Library’s counsel before any further action will be taken. In the case of a warrant, the Director should make a photocopy of the warrant and consult with the Library's counsel, or another available attorney, to make sure the warrant is valid and properly describes the information being sought. The Director should make sure that the information given to law enforcement officials is only what is sought in the warrant and nothing more.

If the warrant is issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the above procedures still hold true, although a "gag order" is also attached to the warrant. This means that no person or institution served with the warrant can disclose that the warrant has been served or that records have been produced pursuant to the warrant. However, this "gag order" does not prevent a lower-level employee from informing the Library Director, nor does it prevent the Library Director from informing the Library's legal counsel.

The Library will provide training on this policy to all staff at least annually.

Adopted by the BDLS Board on August 20, 2007