COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM / TEMPLEOGUE / FIRHOUSE / BOHERNABREENA AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

MOTION NO.1

MOTION: Councillor J. Sinnott

This Committee notes the current process for library members is that library cards are automatically deactivated each year and need to be reactivated by members. This Committee requests that consideration be given by the executive to only deactivating those memberships which have had no usage in the previous 12 months.

REPORT:

All local authority library services in Ireland operate a shared Library Management System, under Libraries Ireland. Libraries Ireland is managed by Libraries Development, LGMA on behalf of the sector. A benefit of this to our users is that they only need one library card to use any public library across the country. As a result we also have shared terms and conditions for membership, which were agreed by the sector and implemented by Libraries Ireland. The reason for annual renewal of library memberships is partly down to the requirement for accurate active membership measurement, but is also good practice from a GDPR perspective. Data should only be retained where there is a business need to do so, and so by actively renewing your library membership you are also satisfying the requirement for the sector to only retain data when required.