Patron Privacy Guidelines

Section 6267 of the California State Government Code regarding registration and circulation records of public libraries states:

All registration and circulation records of any library which is in whole or in part supported by public funds shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person, local agency, or state agency except as follows:

• By a person acting within the scope of his or her duties within the administration of the library
  
• By a person authorized in writing, by the individual to whom the records pertain, to inspect the records.
  
• By order of the appropriate superior court.
  
  

As used in this section, the term "registration records" includes any information which a library requires a patron to provide in order to become eligible to borrow books and other materials, and the term "circulation records" includes any information which identifies the patrons borrowing particular books and other materials.

This section shall not apply to statistical reports of registration and circulation nor to records of fines collected by the library.

The general policy of the San Mateo County Library is not to give out information about either the patron record or what the patron has checked out.