Privacy Policy

McCracken County Public Library

Confidentiality Policy

The McCracken County Public Library is committed to user confidentiality both in traditional and electronic library services.   It is one of the core assurances of library ethics, in line with the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association.

It is the policy of the McCracken County Public Library to protect the privacy of those who use the Library.  Staff members shall protect information about Library borrowers, their requests for information and materials, the online sites and resources that they access, and their loan transactions, and shall not transmit such information to individuals or to any private or public agency without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction, or as otherwise required by law.

Circulation and your library record

Circulation, registration information, and information retrieval records may not be disclosed except to:

  1. The cardholder (with card or other proper id.)
  2. The staff of the McCracken County Public Library in administering the Library System and in the pursuit of reclaiming materials.
  3. Persons authorized by the cardholder to access the individual’s records identified by a signed note of permission given by the cardholder.
  4. Representatives of any local, state, or federal government, pursuant to court order.

The Library does not sell, lease, or otherwise distribute or disclose patron name, email address, postal address, telephone number or other personal information to outside parties.

Materials checked out are deleted from the patron’s record upon return to the library.  The only instances that titles remain on records are:

  1. The material is kept overdue and the fine or replacement costs have not been paid.
  2. If the patron opts to keep a permanent record attached to their card of the materials they have checked out.  That record is only available to the cardholder.
  3. Homebound patrons are on a unique system that keeps the titles for the use of the librarian who selects the materials.

Electronic Services

Upon visiting the McCracken County Public Library website, the Library only collects enough information to have a measure of the number of visitors to each database in order to gauge the usage.  The Library staff cannot look up patron library records to determine what web sites were visited.  This also applies to the public computers and laptops in the library.