Privacy Policy

  1. Privacy is important to the Saskatchewan Information and Library Services Consortium (SILS) member libraries and to you. SILS member libraries are committed to handling your personal information with care. You have a right to privacy and confidentiality regarding your personal information and your use of library resources. We collect, use, and protect your personal information under the authority of The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (LAFOIPP), The Saskatchewan Public Libraries Act, 1996 and Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) In addition to this privacy policy, SILS member libraries may have local policies in place to address services they offer.
  2. Personal information is any piece of information that relates to a living, identifiable person, including, but not limited to, name, email address, home or business address, phone number, date/year of birth, library transactions (materials requested or borrowed, fines or fees accrued, paid, or waived, etc.), or library barcode number. For a complete definition of personal information, see LAFOIPP, section 23(1).
  3. SILS member libraries collect some types of personal information in order to provide, manage, and assess SILS services, such as collections, notifications, websites and mobile apps. We don’t sell, rent, or loan personal information. SILS does not share or divulge personal information without permission or subject to the following: 4. in response to a subpoena, court order or a specific written request from a law enforcement agency to assist in an investigation or as required by law,
    1. there are reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure: will avert or minimize an imminent danger to the health or safety of any person,
    2. to a law enforcement agency, to an organization providing services to a minor, or to another public body is in the best interests of the minor,
    3. in keeping with member libraries’ established procedures for recovering Library property, unpaid fees, fines or other charges (e.g. some SILS members engage collection agencies),
    4. to respect the rights of parents, guardians, or caregivers respecting juvenile, special circumstance, or outreach borrowers,
    5. for the purpose of contacting next of kin or emergency response personnel in the case of an emergency, or
    6. to an authorized third-party contracted to provide technology infrastructure services on behalf of SILS member libraries.
  4. You are under no obligation to provide your personal information to us. However, choosing not to provide certain information may make you ineligible for some services.
  5. SILS member libraries will make all reasonable efforts to:
    1. minimize the amount of personal information collected and stored,
    2. render it anonymous where feasible,
    3. retain it for the minimum time necessary,
    4. protect it from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, and
    5. destroy it securely when no longer needed.
  6. You have a right to access your personal information at any time without charge and to correct any inaccuracies in that information. SILS member libraries are committed to ensuring that your personal information is as complete, accurate, and up-to-date as possible. If you no longer wish to be a public library patron you may request that your information be deleted as long as your account is in good financial standing.
  7. Personal information is stored primarily in Canada; from time to time, personal information may be temporarily uploaded to servers outside the country. Some SILS services, including notification services, are delivered via third parties located in the United States. These third parties have a contract with SILS that requires them to use your information solely for delivering library services to you.
  8. Some library services are provided by third-parties (e.g. Library2go) which may request or require personal information for registration. You are under no obligation to provide this information, however not doing so may make you ineligible to use the service. Any personal information you choose to provide falls under the privacy policy of the third-party service provider.
  9. Personal information relating to a library user may only be accessed or used when required by library employees working within the scope of their duties.

For more information about privacy of personal information in Saskatchewan’s public library system, please contact your library system director.