PRIVACY POLICY
The Lemont Public Library District is committed to protecting patron privacy by using its best efforts to keep personally identifiable information confidential.
The Lemont Public Library District adheres to State law and the Library Record Confidentiality Act (75 ILCS 70/1 et seq) which protect Library records from disclosure if a member of the public or media requests them. Library records include any written or electronic record used to identify a patron. These Library records may only be disclosed to Library staff performing job duties, cardholders upon proof of identity, access persons granted permissions by the cardholder, and parents or guardians of minor children. The Library reserves the right to associate (link) the accounts of parents or guardians to the accounts of their children under the age of 18.
There may be times when the Library is required by law to provide personal information to law enforcement officials. Lemont Public Library District complies with all legal requests for this information. Information may also be requested by a sworn law enforcement officer who represents that it is impractical to secure a court order as a result of an emergency. The information requested without a court order may not include the disclosure of registration or circulation records that would indicate materials borrowed, resources reviewed, or services used at the Library.
The Library may collect the following personal information to access Library services:
- Name
- Address
- Telephone number
- Email address
- Date of birth
- Age
- Library barcode number
- Grade
- School and/or teacher
- Items currently checked out, requested, cancelled holds, and interlibrary loans
- Overdue items (until returned)
- Payment history
- Sign-up information for Library programs
Circulation History
The Library does not keep a record of patron reading history beyond operational requirements. Once a patron returns an item, it is removed from their account. A patron may choose to turn on the reading history feature in their online account to keep a log of items checked out.
Reciprocal Borrowing
The Lemont Public Library District cardholders are eligible to apply for reciprocal borrowing privileges at other public libraries in Illinois. When a patron applies for reciprocal borrowing privileges at another public library, Lemont Public Library District reserves the right to verify with that library that the patron holds a valid card.
Website
The Lemont Public Library District uses Google products to collect data about the use of the Library’s website. The Library uses this information to make improvements to its website, track trends, and prevent spam. A patron’s personal information (e.g., name, address, etc.) is not tracked by the Library. Whenever possible, the Library will not track patrons who have enabled the Do Not Track option in their browsers.
App
The Lemont Public Library District app provides greater access to Library services through mobile devices. The app allows basic tracking of usage patterns and trends, but personal information is not tracked by the Library.
Public Computers & Connected Devices
The Lemont Public Library District does not keep a record of patron activities on any public computer or laptop. Any record of browsing history and activities is removed when a patron logs out. The next patron cannot see any of the previous patron’s information.
All personally identifiable information is purged immediately upon the end of a public computer reservation. An anonymous log is created that includes only the computer terminal number, reservation time, and duration of the session. These anonymous reservation statistics remain in the system for two months.
All connected devices a patron borrows from the Library (e.g., tablets, eReaders, Rokus, etc.) have their history manually cleared by District staff after a patron returns the device
Hotspots
Mobile hotspots borrowed from the Library do not retain any information about patrons or their browsing history.
Email Service
The Library uses email to communicate with patrons for both transactional and marketing purposes. Users may opt out of marketing communications by clicking the “opt out” link in marketing email communications. The Library also sends account notices to patrons who have given their email addresses for that purpose. Patrons may opt out of email account notices by contacting the Library and requesting a change to notification procedures.
Using Third-Party Vendors
The Library enters into agreements with third-parties to provide online services, digital collections, streaming media content, and more. When using some of these services, a patron may also connect with social networks and other users.
Third-party vendors may collect and share a patron’s information, including:
- Personally identifiable information a patron knowingly provides. This includes when a patron registers for the site, provides feedback and suggestions, requests information, or creates shared content.
- Other information that could be used to identify a patron. This includes: a patron’s IP address, search history, location-based data, and device information.
- Non-personally identifiable information. This includes: a patron’s ad views, analytics, browser information, cookie data, date/time of a request, demographic data,
- hardware/software type, interaction data, serving domains, page views, and the web page a patron visited immediately prior to visiting the site.
- Other data as described in the vendor’s privacy policy and terms of use.
For more information on these services and the types of data that is collected and shared, refer to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policies for these services. A patron may choose not to use these third-party vendors if a patron does not accept their terms of use and privacy policies.
Reviewed and approved: February 26, 2024