Rethinking Privacy in the Public Library

The past decade has seen the library privacy debate become a kind of ongoing dialogue which endlessly reiterates the prevailing issues of the past — government surveillance and national security — and failing to adjust to the way that changing values and economic forces are redefining privacy. The danger is that by failing to come to terms with the changing nature of privacy, the library community could find itself without a voice. By accepting the existence of new privacy threats within the institution, it becomes possible to see an important new role for librarians.