The Ultimate Privacy Field Guide: A Workbook of Best Practices

Privacy is a core value of librarianship, yet it often feels like an overwhelming and onerous undertaking. With the creation of ever larger datasets and methods to track users’ every movement, library workers need to have a deep understanding of privacy, confidentiality, and security. Written by library privacy experts and based on input and guidance from a wide cross-section of stakeholders, this resource is structured to give library workers the tools needed to create and be advocates for privacy-protecting practices and policies. Complete with an introduction to each topic and several exercises for you to implement privacy changes at your library, with the help of this guide you will

• learn about creating strong passwords, multifactor authentication, how to avoid malware, and other basic digital security concepts as well as where to go for more help;
• be able to communicate the importance of privacy and why libraries should care by understanding the people you are trying to reach;
• navigate areas in your physical library space to help protect users’ privacy;
• see how user data travels through the library and what you can do to protect it;
• build an audit framework, perform an audit, and tell the audit story;
• read, understand, and write privacy policies applicable to your library; and
• gain key strategies to employ while protecting user privacy when engaging vendors.

Erin Berman is a fierce privacy advocate, leading the American Library Association’s Privacy Subcommittee from 2018 - 2022. During her time as Innovations Manager for San José Public Library, she published the book Your Technology Outreach Adventure: Tools for Human-Centered Problem Solving. Currently, she works as the Division Director of the Learning Group for the Alameda County Library in California.

Bonnie Tijerina is a researcher, librarian, and community convener. She is currently focused on creating opportunities for education and discussion within the library profession and beyond on the role libraries and librarians can play around the increasingly complex issues of the digital world. In that space, she has worked on several grant-funded projects around privacy and big data research ethics and is the co-editor of Protecting Patron Privacy: A LITA Guide. She is also the founder and annual coordinator of the Electronic Resources & Libraries Conference.