The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
§ 171. Definitions
As used in this chapter:
(1) “Library” means a public library as defined in subdivision 101(2) of this title; any college, university, or school library; or any other library or archive that
is open on a regular basis and makes available on site or circulates materials to
the public without a fee.
(2) “Patron registration records” means library records that contain information a library
patron must provide in order to be eligible for borrowing privileges at a library.
(3) “Patron transaction records” means library records that contain names or other personal
identifying information that discloses an individual’s activities within a library,
including the materials that have been viewed in print or electronic form, research
questions posed, materials in any format that the patron has requested through interlibrary
loan or has borrowed, or any other library service or consultation that the patron
has requested. (Added 2007, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)
§ 172. Library record confidentiality; exemptions
(a) A library’s patron registration records and patron transaction records shall remain
confidential.
(b) Unless authorized by other provisions of law, the library’s officers, employees, and
volunteers shall not disclose the records except:
(1) with the written permission of the library patron to whom the records pertain;
(2) to officers, employees, volunteers, and agents of the library to the extent necessary
for library administration purposes;
(3) in response to an authorized judicial order or warrant directing disclosure;
(4) to custodial parents or guardians of patrons under 12 years of age; or
(5) to the custodial parents or guardians of a student, in accordance with the federal
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, by the library at the school the student
attends.
(c) Statistical records pertaining to the patronage, circulation activities, and use of
any service or consultation the library provides, provided that they do not contain
the names of patrons or any other personally identifying information, shall be exempt
from the provisions of this chapter. (Added 2007, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 244, eff. July 1, 2024; 2023, No. 150 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. July 1, 2024.)
§ 173. Right of patron action
Any person whose confidential patron registration records or patron transaction records
have been disclosed, except as provided in this chapter, is authorized to bring a
civil action against the library that disclosed the records. (Added 2007, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)