Hello, everyone, Recently, our library received a FOIA from an organization outside our state requesting information on our union-represented employees. * First name; * Middle name; * Last name; * Date of Birth/Birth year; * Gender; * Work email address; * Job Title; * Worksite location; * Worksite address; and, * Hire Date. We understand that by law, we are required to give information. Still, some of it is more personal than others, such as middle name and gender, and several staff whose data would be included do not feel comfortable sharing it. Have other libraries experienced this, and if so, what did you do? Our director is reaching out to her contacts but she requested that I reach out as well to cast the widest net possible for information and insight. Thanks, Katelin __________________________________________________ Katelin Smith (she/her/hers, they/them/theirs) Adult Services Librarian | Homebound Coordinator William P. Faust Public Library of Westland 6123 Central City Parkway | Westland, Michigan 48185 734-326-6123 ex. 2824 | www.westlandlibrary.org
Hi Katelin, I am the president of our union at DPL and I have never heard of this request. Who or what is this organization? I would have the union leadership at your location contact their rep before responding. In fact I am about to check with my rep and see what he has to say. Good Luck Christine Peele Christine Stewart-Peele Manager Detroit Public Library Edison Branch 18400 Joy Road Detroit, Mi 48228 (313) 481-1723 ________________________________ From: Michlib-l <michlib-l-bounces@mcls.org> on behalf of Katelin Smith via Michlib-l <michlib-l@mcls.org> Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2022 1:56 PM To: michlib-l@mcls.org <michlib-l@mcls.org> Subject: [Michlib-l] FOIA of Employee Information CAUTION: This email originated from outside of Detroit Public Library. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hello, everyone, Recently, our library received a FOIA from an organization outside our state requesting information on our union-represented employees. * First name; * Middle name; * Last name; * Date of Birth/Birth year; * Gender; * Work email address; * Job Title; * Worksite location; * Worksite address; and, * Hire Date. We understand that by law, we are required to give information. Still, some of it is more personal than others, such as middle name and gender, and several staff whose data would be included do not feel comfortable sharing it. Have other libraries experienced this, and if so, what did you do? Our director is reaching out to her contacts but she requested that I reach out as well to cast the widest net possible for information and insight. Thanks, Katelin __________________________________________________ Katelin Smith (she/her/hers, they/them/theirs) Adult Services Librarian | Homebound Coordinator William P. Faust Public Library of Westland 6123 Central City Parkway | Westland, Michigan 48185 734-326-6123 ex. 2824 | www.westlandlibrary.org
Hi Katelin, I would contact your library's or municipality's attorney. Some of that requested information might be exempted from disclosure per Michigan state law: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(lja1i4a4olzfpgxah5pkwtnw))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-15-243 All FOIA requests go through our General Counsel office. Here's our FOIA policy: https://wmich.edu/policies/foia-processing Mary Mary O'Kelly, MLIS Associate Dean for Education and User Services Professor Western Michigan University - University Libraries mary.okelly@wmich.edu<mailto:mary.okelly@wmich.edu> Michigan Academic Library Association Board of Directors East Grand Rapids Library Advisory Commission From: Michlib-l <michlib-l-bounces@mcls.org> On Behalf Of Katelin Smith via Michlib-l Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2022 1:57 PM To: michlib-l@mcls.org Subject: [Michlib-l] FOIA of Employee Information Attention: This email is from outside Western Michigan University. Use caution when opening links and attachments. Hello, everyone, Recently, our library received a FOIA from an organization outside our state requesting information on our union-represented employees. * First name; * Middle name; * Last name; * Date of Birth/Birth year; * Gender; * Work email address; * Job Title; * Worksite location; * Worksite address; and, * Hire Date. We understand that by law, we are required to give information. Still, some of it is more personal than others, such as middle name and gender, and several staff whose data would be included do not feel comfortable sharing it. Have other libraries experienced this, and if so, what did you do? Our director is reaching out to her contacts but she requested that I reach out as well to cast the widest net possible for information and insight. Thanks, Katelin __________________________________________________ Katelin Smith (she/her/hers, they/them/theirs) Adult Services Librarian | Homebound Coordinator William P. Faust Public Library of Westland 6123 Central City Parkway | Westland, Michigan 48185 734-326-6123 ex. 2824 | www.westlandlibrary.org<http://www.westlandlibrary.org>
Hi Katelin, I would consult with your attorney and have them draft the specific response letter. This is from the Freedom of Information Act Statute: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (EXCERPT) Act 442 of 1976 15.243 Exemptions from disclosure; public body as school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy; withholding of information required by law or in possession of executive office. Sec. 13. (1) A public body may exempt from disclosure as a public record under this act any of the following: (a) Information of a personal nature if public disclosure of the information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of an individual's privacy. A number of years ago, we had a similar request for patron information. While the Library Privacy Act took precedence there, the above was also cited by our attorney in the denial letter. You should have a FOIA coordinator within the University and I would contact that person/department first. You may be able to hand this off to that office for processing, but I would stay involved to ensure there were no unwarranted invasions of privacy. Hope this helps, Paul McCann From: "Katelin Smith via Michlib-l" <michlib-l@mcls.org> To: "michlib-l" <michlib-l@mcls.org> Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2022 1:56:55 PM Subject: [Michlib-l] FOIA of Employee Information Hello, everyone, Recently, our library received a FOIA from an organization outside our state requesting information on our union-represented employees. * First name; * Middle name; * Last name; * Date of Birth/Birth year; * Gender; * Work email address; * Job Title; * Worksite location; * Worksite address; and, * Hire Date. We understand that by law, we are required to give information. Still, some of it is more personal than others, such as middle name and gender, and several staff whose data would be included do not feel comfortable sharing it. Have other libraries experienced this, and if so, what did you do? Our director is reaching out to her contacts but she requested that I reach out as well to cast the widest net possible for information and insight. Thanks, Katelin BQ_BEGIN BQ_END __________________________________________________ Katelin Smith (she/her/hers, they/them/theirs) Adult Services Librarian | Homebound Coordinator William P. Faust Public Library of Westland 6123 Central City Parkway | Westland, Michigan 48185 734-326-6123 ex. 2824 | www.westlandlibrary.org _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list Michlib-l@mcls.org https://mail3.mcls.org/mailman/listinfo/michlib-l
participants (4)
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Christine Peele -
Katelin Smith -
Mary K O'Kelly -
Paul McCann