This is the website for LA County Library. We recognize the public’s concern about privacy on the internet. This privacy statement establishes how information gathered about you from your visit to our website will be used by this website’s operators.

The following describes how information may be collected depending on your activities at this website.

Information Subject to Public Records Laws and Other Legal Requirements

As an initial matter, please be advised that we are subject to the public records laws of the State of California (“California Public Records Act”) and that much of the information you submit to Los Angeles County is public information under these laws. Under some circumstances, we may be required to disclose such information in accordance with the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements.

If You Read or Download Information:

We may collect and store information for statistical purposes. For example, we may count the number of visitors to the different sections of our site to help us make them more useful. We may also use this information to monitor your compliance with the Terms of Use. The information collected may include such items as the name and domain of the host from which you access the internet, the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer you are using or your browser software and operating system. This information does not identify you personally.

If You Send Email to this Website:

By sending us an electronic message (e.g., through email, chat, text messaging, or an online form), you may be sending us personal information (i.e., your name, address, email address, etc.). We may store the name and address of the requester in order to respond to the request or otherwise resolve the subject matter of your email. Please note that electronic messages may not be transmitted securely.

If You Register with a County Department or Agency or Request other Specific Information:

Some County department or agency websites may ask visitors who request specific information to fill out a registration form. For example, vendors requesting access to Requests for Bids, Requests for Proposals or homeowners or businesses requesting Permits, may be asked to provide their names, addresses, email addresses and other pertinent information to ensure we can process and deliver the information requested. Other information may be collected at these sites through questionnaires, feedback forms, or other means, to enable us to determine a visitor’s interests, with the goal of providing better service. Please note that these methods also may not be transmitted securely.

If you use the Public Library Online Payment System:

A user must provide certain contact information, such as name and address, and financial information, such as a credit/debit card number and the expiration date, in order for you to pay the total amount of your library fines and fees using our website. Here is what you should know about the security of personal information you provide in order for us to process these transactions:

• We are committed to data security and the data quality of personal information that is either available from or collected by our website. We have taken reasonable precautions to protect such information from disclosure, loss, misuse or alteration. We require that “secure data networks” be operated, which are protected by industry standard firewalls and password protection systems. We additionally require that only authorized individuals have access to the information provided by our users.
• We require the use of Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) standard transmission encryption to protect transmission of users’ personal information submitted in connection with credit/debit card transactions. SSL is a security technology designed to enable your browser to send and receive information with another server in an encrypted format. Your browser’s security icon, usually located in the top or bottom status bar of your browser’s window, reflects the security condition of the browser. The lock icon indicates that your browser is communication over a secure link.
• We require that all the information you provide to us in this manner is stored securely.

Use of Personal Information

As described above, a user must provide certain contact information and financial information in order for you to pay the total amount of your library fines and fees using our website.  We require that this information be used for the limited purpose of processing these transactions and as otherwise permitted by the rules and regulations of the applicable credit card associations, debit card networks, credit/debit card issuers and/or credit/debit card processors. We do not permit this information to be used for marketing purposes and we require that it be retained for at least five (5) years in accordance with banking and accounting requirements.

Privacy Regarding Registration and Circulation Records

All registration and circulation records of any library which is in whole or in part supported by public funds shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person, local agency, or state agency except as follows:

• By a person acting within the scope of his or her duties within the administration of the library
• By a person authorized, in writing, by the individual to whom the records pertain, to inspect the records
• By the order of the appropriate superior court

As used in this section, the term “registration records” includes any information which a library requires a patron to provide in order to become eligible to borrow books and other materials, and the term “circulation records” includes any information which identifies the patrons borrowing particular books and other material.

This section shall not apply to statistical reports of registration and circulation nor to records of fines collected by the library.

From the California Government Code, Chapter 3.5, Article 1, Section 6267

Terms of Use and Terms of Payment

Please also visit our Terms of Use governing use of this website and our Terms of Payment governing use of this website to pay your library fines and fees using a credit/debit card.

In addition to any other disclaimers in our Terms of Use or Terms of Payment, with respect to information available from this web page, neither the County of Los Angeles nor any of its employees, make any warranty, express or implied, including the warranty of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such information.

Changes to the Privacy Statement

We may add to, delete or change the terms of this privacy statement from time to time. This document will be updated to reflect such changes. By using our website, you consent to this privacy statement, as it is changed from time to time.