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Delaware County Library Board approves change to automation policy on retention of paper card applications
Summary
The board voted to allow member libraries discretion over whether to retain or destroy paper library card applications after the patron record is entered into the circulation system; the change follows guidance from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries and review by the county solicitor.
The Delaware County Library Board voted to approve an update to the countywide automation policy that gives individual member libraries discretion over retaining paper library card applications once the patron’s record is entered into the shared circulation system.
The board’s Administrator, Annie (Administrator), told trustees the Policy Committee had asked the Office of Commonwealth Libraries whether any state statute or regulation requires retaining the original paper applications. “We received confirmation from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries that there’s no statute or regulation that requires retaining the actual applications themselves,” Annie said, adding that the county solicitor agreed there is no county-level requirement and that discretion could be given to local libraries.
The committee examined practices in other library systems and said many are moving toward limiting storage of paper applications to reduce the risk that personally identifying information is improperly retained. The committee recommended the policy change unanimously; member library directors reviewed the recommendation and recommended it to the board.
The board approved the update by voice vote. The approved change does not mandate that libraries destroy paper applications; rather, it allows each library to decide whether to retain paper forms or securely destroy them after entering the information into the electronic patron record. Annie noted that the patron data entered into the circulation system remain stored by the circulation-system vendor and said patron records are purged from the system after a period of inactivity (Annie said roughly three years of inactivity triggers purging from the vendor system).
The policy update is effective immediately. Libraries that choose to change local practice will need to document procedures consistent with privacy and records-retention expectations and communicate any changes to patrons.
