Sometimes, people nap in the library, particularly people who we believe might not have stable or sufficient housing. We feel that a library should not exclude people who need a secure place to rest, so long as there is no interference with library operations, but are there any legal considerations to this issue?
This is a VERY sensitive issue. There are many factors that could contribute to a person sleeping in a public space, including:
Local police walked through our Library earlier today with no explanation. Later on, we noticed 2 teens on premises, who we assume should have been in school. We thought the police may have been looking for them as truants, but that is not confirmed.
There is no one right answer to this question, but there is a formula for any library to come up with its own, unique answer.
Here is the formula:
[Situation] x [Ethics + Law] / [POLICY/Precedent] = YES or NO
Let me break this approach down. And trust me, I will give a clear reply to the member's question at the end of all this.
We had a patron come in this past week who said that he couldn't see well and also couldn't type or use a mouse, but he needed to certify Unemployment Insurance. He asked the staff member to login with his username and password and do this for him, and the staff member was, understandably, uncomfortable doing it.
At first glance, this question seems simple: what are the possible legal risks to a librarian helping a patron fill out a legal document?
But within this question lies another, slightly more complex issue: when does good customer service become an accommodation for a disability?
[Our library directors] group had a discussion about sharing information about patrons who have been barred from a library within the System using the notes field in the patron’s library record. It was suggested to put it in the non-blocking note field within the record. This will make the information available to all library staff within the library system.
Before I answer, I want to share a story.
It has come up at our Reference meetings that patrons are using our technology to alter documents such as doctor’s notes (extending days of medical excuse, for example) and our staff is increasingly uneasy about assisting patrons with this.
Wow. There is really just no hum-drum day for librarians, is there?
Okay, let’s take this in stages.
Can we use the email addresses of our patrons from our ILS patron database to send a donation request for our association library's annual fundraising drive? We would exclude requests to minor patrons.
Before I wrote this answer, I stopped to ponder the fact that there are over 20 library systems in New York, each with its own policy and approach to managing the information in its "ILS" (integrated library system).
