Policy on Public Sign-Up Sheets for Recording Student Use of the Library

Department: Library Administration

Policy on Public Sign-Up Sheets
for Recording Student Use of the Library

9 February2012

Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to clarify and standardize our response to requests to put sign-up sheets in the library for monitoring student use.

Overview: We regularly get requests from campus departments or organizations who want to monitor their students’ use of the library. They will ask if they can put a sign-up sheet somewhere in the library (usually at the Circulation Desk) for their students to sign-in and sign-out when they come to the library to study.

Policy:
Library Services staff have a professional obligation to protect “each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality.” (Association of College and Research Libraries Standards for Libraries in Higher Education, http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/standardslibraries) The use of public sign-up sheets to monitor library use violates this professional library standard. Therefore, Christopher Center for Library and Information Services does not allow the use of such sign-up sheets.