Recently Asked Questions

Is the library at risk if a teen patron volunteers to share contents of a cell phone?

An adult patron recently called the library and said that her 11-year-old daughter reported being filmed outside the library (parking lot or backyard). The child reported that two teen patrons had been using cell phones to film her. No staff witnessed this, but all of the juveniles involved were known to library staff. The two teens had returned inside the library at the time the call came in, and staff asked them if what was reported was true. Both denied the claims, and one asked to “prove” that it wasn't true by showing the contents of his cellphone video library. Do we put ourselves at risk by allowing a patron (juvenile or otherwise) to show us such content? We can see a variety of ways that this might expose us to risk, but we also understand the teen’s impulse to defend himself.

Additional questions that came up (but maybe too much for a single query): If patrons do film each other without consent on library property, is that a further risk for us? If we were to explicitly state that filming others while on library property is against policy, how could we safely enforce that policy?

I’m assuming the age requirement for youth cards varies widely even among NYS libraries, but what are the key determining legal factors which inform how libraries settle on an age range for this policy? I can think of three factors, and libraries likely conflate all of them together. I’d like to extrapolate the real legal concerns so that I can more clearly determine our own library’s circulation policies regarding permission for youth cards.

1. Is the signature to allow for “parent permission” to access the library? Are public libraries legally obligated to obtain parent permission before a child of a certain age accesses library materials or services? I’m assuming that the library would not be liable if, for example, staff allowed an 11-year-old without a library card to read any book they liked within the walls of the library. Does this apply to a child of any age? (I realize unaccompanied minors will eventually come into play). So, by extension, is granting an 11-year-old a library card without parent consent legally permissible?

2. Is the signature an acknowledgement of responsibility for the library materials on behalf of the child? Many library card applications prompt for this specifically, but according to NYS law, is a parent/guardian responsible for library materials checked out to a minor in their care regardless? (If a 15-year-old minor lost library materials or incurred fines or fees, would their parents still be legally responsible even without giving permission for the card?)

3. COPPA and the collection of PII (for online library card signup). Though not required as a non-profit, our library chooses to comply with this policy, requiring parent/guardian consent of online card signup for children 12 and under. Does this mean that a child aged 11 could still, within legal boundaries, apply for a library card in person without collecting consent?

Are there any laws around a supervisor or manager telling others the reason for an employee being out on leave? Does the answer change if the employee isn't using sick time, but [has] disclosed why they were unavailable for additional hours during non-contract time?

A school district public library is considering installing closed-circuit cameras and thinking of enabling sound recordings, too. Is it legal to record sound, thinking it is a violation of patron privacy? Can board members review the tapes?

Recently, Zoom introduced new AI features and updated their terms of service agreement, indicating that any user data can be used to train their AI products (TOS 10.4: https://explore.zoom.us/en/terms/). There was a backlash and Zoom quickly put out a clarification and stated that these features are opt-in only (https://blog.zoom.us/zooms-term-service-ai/). Despite this clarification, I am wondering if there are any privacy or FERPA concerns that librarians and educators need to be worried about since Zoom is still used heavily in both library and school worlds. Should we be looking for alternatives or is this just the way of the world now?