I am curious if there is a governing body for these and who they are.

As a former bank manager, I am not unfamiliar with being audited but there was always a governing body (either the bank itself or an official governmental body like the Office of the Comptroller of Currency) that was executing an audit for regulatory purposes. I am all for protecting patron privacy, but there is also an employee privacy issue to consider if an ungoverned third party is allowed unobstructed access to back of house operations. My employees were aware that there were cameras everywhere (it was a bank, after all) but we also knew for certain who had access to the images captured on those cameras and what they were used for.

As for looking for certain items in a collection... it is the library's job to audit the collection, not some third party. There is a method and a process. I would have asked what data the auditors were using to determine that the requested item should be part of the collection. I would have also asked them both for ID, contact information and recorded it and asked them to clear it with the library's legal team before letting them access the facility.

My two cents.

Steven

PS. Please be mindful that all MichLib emails are recorded and Google searchable when replying to this post.

On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 9:38 AM SF Director Account via Michlib-l <michlib-l@mcls.org> wrote:

Good morning,

I have never heard of this. Why is the U.S. Constitution for Dummies a book they would ask about? Is there a process or procedure for how libraries should act or react to this group? You mention being respectful but anything else?

Any assistance in this for me to inform my staff would very helpful.

Matt Lubbers-Moore

From: "Perri Saunders via Michlib-l" <michlib-l@mcls.org>
To: "michlib-l" <michlib-l@mcls.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2022 1:28:09 PM
Subject: [Michlib-l] First Amendment Audit

Just had our first First Amendment Audit. It went very well, actually.

I spotted them before they came in so we could gather ourselves for a minute - make sure no patron names were on screens, and the reserve shelf had no names showing, etc.
Two people (man and woman) came in with cameras. I welcomed them from the circ desk as I would anyone else (maybe a little more enthusiastically).  The man asked if we had the U.S. Constitution for Dummies and we talked about that a little.

I offered to show them around, but they just wanted to walk around and film. We only had one patron in here at the time, so when the man started that way, I just told him that he was welcome to film anywhere in the public areas as long as he didn't interfere with other patrons' enjoyment of the library.

We were respectful and, in turn, they were respectful, so it went just fine. They were here for about 15 minutes. I won't lie - it felt like longer.

I know that this man, FRICN MEDIA, has lots of 1st Amendment Audit videos on YouTube, many of which turned confrontational. We were welcoming, forthcoming, and really boring. Score!

Like Kate Andrade said, "It's not if, it's when". We might as well be prepared.

Have a great day!
Perri

--
Perri Saunders, Director
White Pigeon Township Library
102 N. Kalamazoo St., P.O. Box 399
White Pigeon, MI 49099
269-483-7409
p.saunders@woodlands.lib.mi.us

Brighten the corner where you are.

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--
Matt Lubbers-Moore, Director
Fruitport District Library
(231) 366-6107
www.fruitportdistrictlibrary.org
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