customization is a double-edged sword

[Julia Schult]

I went to the www.ala.org site and did a site search for
"confidentiality".  Among the interesting relevant information I found:

http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/intellectualfreedommanual.html
According to this article, as of 1996 45 states and DC have laws
protecting the privacy of library users.

http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/pol_user.html
This page provides a good analysis on the reasons behind patron
confidentiality policy.
Here's a quote from this page that bears on a point raised in this
thread:
"The American Library Association also recognizes that law enforcement
agencies
 and officers may occasionally believe that library records contain
information
 which would be helpful to the investigation of criminal activity. If
there is a
 reasonable basis to believe such records are necessary to the progress
of an
 investigation or prosecution, the American judicial system provides the
mechanism
 for seeking release of such confidential records: the issuance of a
court order,
 following a showing of good cause based on specific facts, by a court
of
 competent jurisdiction. "

Unfortunately, the page mostly addresses requests for information from
law enforcement or government officials, and seems to be thinking of
libraries as exclusively public entities.  I work at a private college,
and while we are a depository library and so follow the rules about
giving access to all, what about a private college campus which is not a
depository?  Do they also have an obligation to present opposing
viewpoints and protect information on their users' borrowing habits?
And what about protecting them from private inquiries, rather than law
enforcement/government inquiries?  Is it just as touchy for my college's
president (or judicial council) to ask for a student's borrowing record
[Note: hypothetical] as it is for the FBI or the local police?

---Julia E. Schult
Access/Electronic Services Librarian
Elmira College
Jschult at elmira.edu