Library guidelines and information

Library membership and your personal data

How we use your information

  • When you join the library, we will ask you for your address, phone number and email address, so we can keep in touch with you regarding your account; for example, notifying you by text message or email when your books are due for renewal, when they are overdue or if the item you requested is available. 
  • We may also contact you to let you know if there are any changes to service delivery that may affect you.
  • If you provide us with an email address, we will send you a welcome message with useful links and information.
  • We also ask for your title and gender, so we can address you correctly and develop our services for you.
  • Completed membership forms will be shredded no later than four weeks after you join.
  • We will hold and process this data during the period of your membership and you will be asked to agree to this when you join.
  • Please speak to a member of library staff if you wish to change or withdraw your contact information.

What information do we keep on your library membership?

As well as your contact details, your membership record shows:

  • what items you currently have on loan
  • what items you have borrowed in the last 3 years (a full borrowing record is kept for users aged 65+)
  • any charges outstanding, including book fines and renewal charges
  • a complete history of charges paid
  • manually-added notes about your membership or use of the library.

A lot of this information can be accessed via your library online account.

For other information, including history of items borrowed, fines paid and notes added, please speak with a member of our library staff.  

As a library visitor, you may also sign up to events and activities, complete feedback or contact us. All your personal data will be treated securely both in paper and digital format, and either destroyed or anonymised when your personal information is no longer required.

For more information, please email librarycontact@hillingdon.gov.uk.

Page last updated: 08 Feb 2023