Privacy Checkup Time!

The library catalog's built-in social features facilitate the sharing of diverse opinions all across the BiblioCommons community of libraries so that you can rub shoulders with library neighbors across the city, the country, or the world.

Customizable privacy settings allow you to share as much or as little as you like. Privacy settings determine whether or not your interactions with catalog items—things you rate or comment on, add to your shelves or lists—are shared with other library users.

Take some time to check your privacy settings in the library catalog, so everything is set to how you would like it.

To view your privacy settings:

1. Log in to your account.
2. On the menu, click My Settings.
3. On the My Settings page, look for the Privacy section.

No matter what privacy settings you choose for your account, your borrowing history, checked out items, and items on hold are ALWAYS private. 

Shelf Privacy

You have three “shelves” to keep track of items you borrow: Completed, In Progress, and For Later.

Shelf privacy settings allow you to control whether or not items you add to these shelves are visible to other library users by default. If these settings are off, anything you add is shared—visible to others. If you plan to add ratings or comments to things you’ve borrowed, you should make them shared. Otherwise, no one else will be able to see what you’ve contributed. 

To change your shelf privacy settings:

1. In the Privacy section, next to My Shelves, click Change.
2. On the My Shelves page, click the checkbox next to each shelf you want to change.
3. Click Save Changes.

Regardless of your default shelf setting, you can make individual items private or shared (see Excluding a Title from Shared View). That enables you to share the bulk of your items with others while keeping a few titles private if you wish to.