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Comment by schwartzworld | Hacker News Reader

> RFID to see what books you read

All the books in my public library have RFID already to make them faster to check in and check out. I'm also pretty sure there's been a record of every book you've checked in and out of the library even predating that. Glad they don't already do this.

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Actually, libraries intentionally do not keep records of what books you've checked out for patron privacy reasons. It can be annoying, but it's a the right thing to do.

When did this change? When I was a kid, the books from the public library had a little card that had the previous borrowers crossed out.

In Poland - they do keep track.

I'm not sure where you're located, but I find that hard to believe for the US. My library has an app which is obviously storing data about me on a server somewhere. They certainly know which books I have out now and which are overdue.

This is at least common in US libraries. The San Francisco public library as well as the library system where I grew up both do not keep library records after you have returned the item. I know there is a lot of contention about their private partners keeping records (ex: Overdrive) but I haven't followed that conversation much.

Source? I've heard of librarians fighting government agencies demanding access to their records, but it's pretty obvious that my local library keeps track of what I borrow.

here is an example: https://sfpl.org/about-us/confidentiality-and-usa-patriot-ac...

"The Library does not maintain a history of what a borrower has previously checked out once books and materials are returned on time."

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