TLC Statement on Student Privacy in Library•Solution for Schools
TLC strongly considers student data privacy while developing the features requested by our customers. TLC has no plans to pursue development that would negatively impact student privacy but recognizes that we may be requested to do so by customers seeking to comply with local laws. In such cases, our intent would be to provide as much control as necessary to each customer to achieve the balance required in their district between privacy and compliance with applicable laws.
To give an illustrative example, librarians became concerned in the early 2000s about the Patriot Act enabling national security letters to libraries to compel patron and student loan histories. TLC implemented a control allowing each library system to opt-in or out of retaining loan history beyond the active period of the loan. This put the control at the customer level as to how best to discharge their mission while complying with applicable law. We believe this is a good pattern to replicate whenever possible, as opposed to TLC making a policy decision on behalf of all of our customers which some prefer, but puts others at compliance or legal risk.
Library•Solution for Schools does not include parental control features, such as limiting or filtering search results or parental overrides on student access to library materials. In 2019 a large progressive district development partner requested that we provide more than one email field for notifications, facilitating parental notification of circulation statuses if their email is added to the student profile. This feature was not developed as parental control. It appears to have been motivated by overdue and loss rates within the district. The system default does not provide a check-out notification to a party other than the student. Additionally, should a district decide to use a paper checkout receipt or no checkout receipt, no check-out notification is provided via email to any recipient.
About The Library Corporation
TLC has operated continuously under the same ownership since 1974 and employs over 200 people dedicated to delivering enterprise software and hardware solutions to public, school, academic, and special libraries worldwide. TLC’s cumulative products are deployed in more than 1,100 organizations, representing over 5,500 locations in North America and worldwide. TLC is certified by the U.S. General Services Administration, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, and the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program. TLC’s Headquarters is based in Inwood, W.Va., and has additional offices in Colorado, Minnesota, and Singapore.
