Thanks to all responders about e-mailing overdues to parents. In a nutshell, it
still seems like a gray area. State statutes vary a bit with exclusions on what is
confidential. So, some of you are sending them to parents of minors and others are
only sending them directly to students in interschool e-mail. That would be my
preference, but we don't have student accounts. Lisa G. had a great idea to create
an e-mail list with a generic message. See all replies
below:...................................
" I send email notices to students, but only with their permission. They provide
me with the address to which they want me to send it. I use Athena, and it does
not list the titles. If you want to avoid titles, you could always create an
email list with all the student addresses you have. Each time you send out
overdues, you could send out a generic "You have overdue items" message, without
listing the titles. Select which students from your mailing list it goes out
to."............................."arizona law says:Records may be disclosed:If
necessary for the reasonable operation of the library. (I think this would
include overdue notices?)
http://www.library.cmu.edu/People/neuhaus/state_laws.html#AZ
State laws are accessible through a variety of sources, both commercial and free.
Three free sites are: American Law Sources On-line(LawSource, Inc.)FindLaw
(Thomson)WashLaw Web (Washburn University School of
Law)"............................... "Since all of our high school students have
school-issuede-mail accounts we send all of their overdue notices to themthrough
Alexandria. I would suggest you contact the librarymedia supervisor in your state
to see what your state'sinterpretation of confidentiality laws entails. Our
statesupervisor says Missouri's position is that parents have theright to know what
their kids have checked out and we havean obligation to inform them if they ask.
I don't knowabout just automatically e-mailing to parents without theirrequest.
It will be interesting to see what librarians invarious states have to say about
this."................................... "Hi, I email overdue notices to students,
not parents. However, I have anumber of students who don't check their email daily.
For them, I senda quick reminder to their Facebook or MySpace account - the
catalogwon't do it automatically, but they see the
notice."...................................
"Vicki, I think the information some people gave you about confidentiality is
incorrect. I just mailed overdue letters to parents. I made my own letter and yes,
I included titles and prices. My principals and I have spoken at length about this,
and they all say that parents have a legal right to know. I admit that it was
difficult for me especially at the high school when the titles were provocative or
might be questionable to a parent. I think schools are different. These children,
after all, belong to their parents who are responsible. We expect them to find the
books when they’re lost and pay for them if they’re not found. They have the
right to know the titles. Parents do have the right to say what their children can
and can’t read or check out. I don’t know if you are a parent, but, if you are,
you might put yourself in that position. How would you feel about getting an
overdue notice asking you to find the book or pay for it but without the title?
“Look for this book, but I won’t tell you the name of it.” More important,
parents do have legal rights and responsibilities, and I wouldn’t look kindly
about people who try to take them away. In mho common sense always applies. We are
not public libraries."...................
"If the student is a minor then student confidentiality is not breached.
Mypersonal opinion. I know that my son turned 18 before his senior yearstarted.
I told him he could sign for things, but his dad and/or I hadbetter know about it
since we were paying the bills. I bet Carol Simpsoncould tell you
exactly.".................................Again, thanks for all of your input!
Vicki Reutter, LMSCazenovia (NY) High Schoolvreutt@aol.comvreutter@caz.cnyric.org
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