Submission Date:
Question:
We got a question regarding how the new rules for records retention (the "LGS-1") impacts the retention of school library borrowing records.
Under the new LGS-1, how long must school library borrowing records be retained? How does that impact BOCES, district, and school library records purging?
Answer:
Thank you for this question. The LGS-1 is one of my favorite rabbit holes to explore.
I took a look at Schedule Item 596, which applies to "Borrowing or loaning records." I have put a screenshot of the section, as it appears in the schedule as displayed on the NY State Archives web site: http://www.archives.nysed.gov/common/archives/files/lgs1.pdf
As you can see in the screenshot, 596 fixes the retention period for borrowing or loaning records for school libraries as "0 years after no longer needed."
"No longer needed" is one of those phrases in the LGS-1 that renders the retention period variable. This flexibility can be both helpful and frustrating, since a district, BOCES, or school library must determine, via policy, what "needed" means.
This can vary from place to place, but in all instances should be based on a determination of what is meant (for the district/BOCES/or school library) by "need," and then confirmed in a policy.
After that, best practice is always to purge records once their retention period is over, and for something as deeply connected to ethics, compliance and privacy as library records,[1] that is doubly true. For school libraries, that retention period is zero, once the records are no longer needed.
Therefore: determining how long student library borrowing records are "needed" (something that may vary from library to library, district to district, BOCES to BOCES), and then purging the record as soon as possible,[2] is a good way to use the LGS-1 to enhance an institution's commitment to privacy.
Thanks to the member for bringing up this nuance. These issues are at the crossroads of ethics, compliance and automation, and require continuous and careful attention to detail and resulting policy.
[1] Please see "Ask the Lawyer" here for a discussion of school library records, CPLR 4509, and FERPA.
[2] The LGS-1 encourages, but does not require, "the systematic disposal of unneeded records."
Tag:
Privacy, Records Management, Record Retention, School Libraries, LGS-1
