CET Writes

Originally published December  17 , 2025 Library Developments Blog   |   Library Development and Networking Division Texas State Library and Archives Commission As we shift our attention to information security and privacy policies, consider the following scenario where a well-intentioned community event exposed how easily gaps in data-handling practices can put patrons at risk. The Gotham Public Library—a fictional, small, rural library in Texas—partnered yet again with the Madame Selina Kyle Foundation; this time to host a free digital literacy workshop and asked participants to provide their name, home address, phone number, email address, and library card number using a shared Google Form created by a volunteer. In the days following the event, several attendees began receiving unsolicited emails from LexCorp and phone calls promoting Harvey Dent’s election campaign. One patron filed a complaint, stating the only place they had shared that information was with t...

Originally published December 10 , 2025 Library Developments Blog   |   Library Development and Networking Division Texas State Library and Archives Commission As we turn an eye to technology use policies, let us return to the land of imagination and visit the Gotham Public Library, a small rural Texas library that recently upgraded its computer area with new public workstations, expanded Wi-Fi access, and a makerspace laptop cart funded through a community grant from the Madame Selina Kyle Foundation. Because the library had never adopted a formal technology use policy, Director Barbara Gordon, staffer Richard Grayson, and the library’s volunteers relied on informal practices and individual judgment to guide patron behavior. One afternoon, a patron began streaming loud video tutorials for making Smylex on a public computer and refused to use headphones, insisting there was no rule against it; later, another patron downloaded unlicensed batarang-making software onto a mak...