The month of May in Arizona can be an uncertain time for us locals. We just spent the last few months reveling in perpetual sunshine without the soul-crushing heat. But in May, the countdown begins, and we have only a handful of days before the mercury reaches the triple digits. I received a rude reminder of that when I was goosed by the hot aluminum bleachers at my daughter's softball game last week. It's only a matter of days before we crawl back into our air-conditioned cars, offices, homes, and schools to wait out the worst of it. So what can we do to celebrate the end of the two-digit temps this month? Well, it goes without saying that I already have my Costco-sized chips, guac, and pre-made margaritas ready for Cinco de Mayo on May 5.
Out of curiosity (professional hazard), I checked the National Day Calendar website to see if I could apply my snacks and adult beverages to anything else this week. The first week in May hosts Small Business Week, National Wildflower Week, National Pet Week, and Screen-Free Week. One must admire the optimism of Screen-Free Week, given our current virtual lifestyles, and raise a jaded eyebrow at an entire website devoted to an electronics-free week. Rather like having an AA meeting at your local pub.
For librarians, the first week of May is Choose Privacy Week, first observed by the American Library Association in 2010. According to the ALA, "Choose Privacy Week promotes the importance of individual privacy rights and celebrates libraries' and librarians' unique role in protecting privacy in a digital age." Digital privacy is not a new topic. As individuals, we wrestle with choosing privacy every day (coincidently, the ALA modified its choose privacy website in 2018 to Choose Privacy Every Day). We've all seen the pop-up ads for products related to our last Google search. Are the coupons I receive from the grocery store worth the privacy I give up when I sign up for its "shoppers club"? My brother-in-law, with his mind-numbing array of electronic privacy protocols, would say no. My sister would shrug and tell me no big deal. The NSA is already listening, so why not get a buck off laundry detergent? If you lean more toward my brother-in-law's point of view, PC Magazine pushed a list of 12 Essential Apps for Protecting your Privacy Online. Choose Privacy Every day also provides tools to help you protect your privacy.
Not to show off, but libraries and librarians have always taken library users' privacy seriously. The ALA Code of Ethics states, "We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired, or transmitted." The freedom to read and research without fear of being punished, judged, or put under surveillance is critical to our democracy and its encompassing freedoms.
Protecting library users' privacy and providing access to content is a constant balancing act for us. For example, we often choose not to recommend a potentially useful website because it requires the user to provide personal information to access it. And the privacy issues are just getting more complex. Earlier this year, the ALA passed resolutions on the Misuse of Library Users Through Behavior Tracking and the Opposition of Facial Recognition Software in Libraries. So we have that to think about now.
When it comes to privacy versus access to content, we may not have all the answers, but we think about and weigh privacy in our daily decisions. Privacy aside, I think I might crack open the snacks early, announce a screen-free week to my teenagers, and sit back and enjoy the show.
Alexis Soard
