With the passing of Michigan Senate Bill No. 611, the Vicksburg District Library has changed some of its procedures in order to ensure the protection and safety of each patron’s account information. One of the functions of this bill is to improve information security for community members served by the library, which also increasing the penalties for releasing information in unauthorized ways.
Here’s the short of it: You have a right to privacy, so help us protect your information!
The Vicksburg District Library takes protecting your personal information very seriously. While we work to provide you with all of the information you seek, we also want to protect your right to privacy. Here’s some ways we can work together to make this happen:
SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS
Your receipts from us will have the title of each item you checked out, the library item barcode of each item, and the due date for each item. Keep in mind that different types of items will have different due dates.
ACCESS YOUR ACCOUNT ONLINE
Don’t know how much you owe in fines? Not sure when your next due date is? Need to renew an item? You can do all this by accessing your library account online. Visit our website at www.vicksburglibrary.org and select “My Library Account.” This will transfer you to our catalog. Select “Please Log In” at the upper right corner and enter your patron ID number (your entire library card number with no spaces) and your PIN (the last four digits of your phone number we have on file). Once your are logged in, select “Your Account” and you’ll be able to view all of your items, as well as set account preferences.
ADD TRUSTED LOVED ONES TO YOUR ACCOUNT
Is there someone you trust you would like to grant account access to, such as a spouse, child, or parent? Make sure they are added to your account by giving us their full name. How do you add someone to your account? Come into the library to fill out a registration card and list the person’s first and last name. More than one person can be added. Please note that we cannot add people to your account over the phone or email due to verification purposes and account management by the library.
MAKE SURE WHOMEVER PICKS UP YOUR ITEMS HAS PROPER IDENTIFICATION
If you wish to send someone to retrieve your items that are ready for pick up at the library, the following is required:
- The person picking up your items must have their first and last name listed on your account.
- The person who is picking up your items must present your Vicksburg District Library card. Presenting your driver’s license or other photo ID cannot be accepted.
- The person picking up your items must present their ID (such as a driver’s license) that includes their photo and their first and last name.
Please note the following about this procedure:
If you have lost your Vicksburg District Library card, you must come to the library, register for a new card, and pay a $3.00 replacement fee. The only time a driver’s license or state photo ID may be accepted in place of a VDL card is when you pick up and check out items for yourself in person.
Only holds ready for pick up behind the Circulation Desk can be check out by the person picking up items for you. They may not add items from the stacks of the general collection.
The above applies to parents/guardians/caretakers accessing their children’s accounts. The parent listed as the responsible party on the account must present photo ID when checking out items on the account. Only the adult listed as a responsible party may utilize the child’s account when the child is not present.
NEED TO RENEW BY PHONE? HAVE YOUR INFORMATION READY
Verifying information over the phone is always risky, so we do our best not to reveal any information about your account. If you need to renew an item or ask about a due date, make sure you have the item’s details with you and be specific with your requests. This helps us take care of a task without revealing details and it protects your right to privacy.
For example, if you call us on the phone, you can ask us, “Can you please renew the book The Da Vinci Code for me?,” “Can you renew my DVDs for me?” or “Is the item ending in barcode number 47949 due this week?” You have given us all the details we need and we can successfully help you without a breach in privacy.
However, you are unable to ask us on the phone questions such as, “What books on my account are due this week?” or “How much do I owe in overdue fees?” The library would have to give out private information about your account, which we cannot do. Instead, we would advise you to access your account online or visit the library in person.