DIY Librarian

I’m a bit (okay, quite a bit) behind on my reading, so I’m just now reading Michael Casey and Laura Savastinuk’s excellent Library 2.0 article in Library Journal.

In the article, they say that Library 2.0 should safeguard patron privacy to the same extent that Library 1.0 did:

Libraries should remain as vigilant with protecting customer privacy with technology-based services as they are with traditional, physical library services. There are ways to preserve privacy, such as by allowing anonymous comments and tagging within the catalog. Library users should not be required to identify themselves publicly in order to participate in virtual services.

I’m not sure I agree with this. Providing a public space for collaboration is a very different service from providing information, and libraries have always provided services that are not private. If you show up to storytime, the other people at storytime know that you were there and which story you heard. If you come to open mic night and step up to the mic, you are engaging in public performance.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t offer patrons anonymity and privacy in Library 2.0 services. I’m just wondering whether we are obligated to always offer complete privacy, and where something like tagging the library catalog falls on the public-private continuum.

It seems that one of the real attractions of 2.0 is the ability to make connections with other people, and libraries shouldn’t ignore this. Libraries have traditionally fostered these kinds of connections, after all—for example, through book clubs.

I’d love to know what others think about this.