Recently Asked Questions (RAQs)

Many libraries use a form of “registration card” when signing people up for a library card; a small form filled out by a patron before receiving a library card. We’d like some clarity regarding the retention of physical registration cards as they pertain to “Library Card Application Records” in the LGS-1.

Here are the questions:
1. How would you define a Library Card Application Record?

2. Does duplicating all information from a simple registration card into the ILS patron record relieve the retention period of the physical registration card?

3. The registration card would not have unique information or signatures. Does retention change if there is unique information on the registration card that is not duplicated in the ILS, including signatures?

4. If retention applies to a simple registration card (no signatures or unique information), is it possible to define it as a temporary data transfer tool rather than an application through policy, to relieve the retention requirement?

What are the legal requirements, or best practices, for libraries handling lost or unclaimed property, i.e. patron items left inadvertently at the library?

For items like lost library cards where the owner’s identity it easy to find, we look up the patron record and attach a note to it, then place the card in Lost & Found. But what about things like electronics? We’ve had a lost cell phone in L&F for several months now. I assume for privacy reasons we should never access the phone in an attempt to learn the owner’s identity?

Three area directors I’ve asked said that after one month, they give unclaimed phones to their local police department. Is this a legal requirement or simply a best practice? What about other found items, like money? Can money, after a period of time, be given to the library’s Friends group or kept by the library itself, or should it be turned over to the police as well?

Thanks.

Can employees volunteer at the library where they work, specifically in New York State?

We have had this come up quite often and the word has always been, employees cannot under any circumstances volunteer at the place they work. Since libraries have programming like holiday events outside of regular working hours, employees like to lend a hand but have been told they cannot.

The Fair Labor Standards Act from the US Department of Labor says that for nonprofits, employees may volunteer at their workplace, if it is work outside their regular duties. Our example, under FLSA, would be if a library page wants to help with our gardening. The gardening is outside their regular duties and can volunteer. If it was volunteering to shelve books, that wouldn’t be permitted.

We cannot find anything in state law or anywhere else that clarifies whether employees are permitted to volunteer outside their regular hours. This is especially critical for large events or for people that work at a circulation desk. They cannot leave their post to do anything else.

Our public library has been told by patrons that another patron is following up on interactions at the library, including at the circulation desk, by showing up at the reporting patrons’ homes. Such behavior, if harassing, is against our Code of Conduct. Does our library risk legal liability for this?

In this RAQ’s section 2, “Libraries, Fax Lines, and HIPAA,” you say, there is NO CIRCUMSTANCE under which a public, academic or public library should be engaging in a HIPAA-governed communication.” You also say, “If your library is not transmitting this type of information, you can stop sweating about HIPAA, even if patrons are using your fax to send it.”

Just so that we are crystal clear: this means that if patrons need to use a fax machine to correspond with a doctor’s office, it’s okay as long as they are the ones who physically use the fax machine? If they require help, can staff tell them how to use the machine as long as we don’t handle the physical documents?