Amherst Town Library Requests for Confidential Records

Confidential library records will not be released or made available to any person unless a court order in proper form has been entered by a court of competent jurisdiction after showing good cause by the law enforcement agency or person seeking the records.

• It is lawful for employees of the library to refer any agent or officer seeking confidential library records to an administrator in charge. It is not necessary to respond immediately to any request. If a staff member is approached by any person requesting confidential library records, he/she should ask for identification and then immediately refer the person to the Director. If the Director will be unavailable for longer than 24 hours, the staff member should refer the person to the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
• The Director or Board Member will meet with the inquiring agent or officer with library counsel or a colleague in attendance.
• If there is no court order compelling the production of records, the requestor shall be informed of the library’s confidentiality and privacy policies and the State of New Hampshire’s confidentiality law (RSA 201-D:11).
• If the agent or officer presents a court order, the Library Director shall immediately contact the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees so that the court order can be referred to the legal counsel for the Town of Amherst for review. The Library Director or the Board Member will notify the Amherst Town Administrator of the use of legal counsel.

If the court order is in the form of a subpoena:

• Counsel should examine the subpoena for any legal defect, including the manner in which it was served on the library, the breadth of its request, its form, evidence of sufficient showing of good cause made to the court.
• Through legal counsel library administration will insist that any defect be cured before confidential records are released.
• Library administration shall follow the subpoena strictly and shall not release any information not specifically requested in it.
• If disclosure is required, library administration shall ask the court to enter a protective order drafted by the town counsel keeping the information confidential and limiting its use to the particular case.

If the court order is in the form of a search warrant:

• A search order is executable immediately (unlike a subpoena). The agent or officer may begin a search of library records as soon as the Library Director is served with the court’s order.
• The Library Director shall ask to have a representative from the Board of Trustees and town legal counsel present before the search begins in order to allow counsel an opportunity to examine the search warrant and to assure that the search conforms to the terms of the search warrant.
• Library administration shall cooperate with the search to ensure that only the records identified in the warrant are produced and that no other users’ records are viewed or scanned.

If the court order is a search warrant issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) USA Patriot Act amendment:

• The procedures for a regular search still apply. However, a search warrant issued by a FISA court also contains a gag order. No person or institution served with the warrant can disclose that the warrant has been served or that records have been produced pursuant to the warrant.
• Library staff and their representatives cannot disclose any information to any party, including the patron whose records are the subject of the search warrant. The gag order does not change the library’s right to legal representation during the search.