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The increased use of self service holds, a holds system where a patron is notified that a requested book has arrived and the patron retrieves it from a publicly accessible holds shelf without assistance from library staff raises new questions about user privacy. In response to concerns about possible violations of patron confidentiality with this practice, in 2011 ALA passed a Resolution to Protect Library User Confidentiality in Self-Service Hold Practices. Michigan libranes were surveyed to determine the number that use self-service holds; why or why not they choose to implement them, and, if they did, what methods they used to protect the privacy of their patrons. The results show that between 15% and 27% of Michigan libraries currently use self-service holds and more libranes plan to implement them in the future. The survey responses suggest that methods employed to protect patron privacy are not sustainable, not cost effective, or simply not effective. The identity of the requesting patron of 85% of the items placed on self-service holds shelves in responding libraries can still be discerned by other patrons.
When the USA Patriot Act was passed six weeks after September 1 1 , 2 00 1 , x librarians were at the forefront of the battle for the privacy rights it threatened. Over the span of three years, the American Library Association (ALA) issued three resolutions addressing issues of privacy violations within this Act, one in 2003, one in 2005, and then one in 2006. The increased use of self-service holds, a holds system where a patron is notified that a requested book has arrived and the patron retrieves it from a publicly accessible holds shelf without assistance from library staff, raises new questions about user privacy.
In response to the emerging practice of self-service hold shelves, ALA passed a Resolution to Protect Library User Confidentiality in Self-Service Hold Practices.2 It states that "U.S. Courts have ruled that when an individuals personal data is shared with a third party or the public, the individual no longer has an expectation of privacy in that data" and that "keeping a library user's personally identifiable information and circulation record confidential is essential for preserving the library user's expectation of privacy in his or her reading history"3 As...