Librarians have been concerned about the privacy of their patrons’ reading habits since at least the 1950’s. Recently, the USA PATRIOT Act has challenged our understanding of what we can or must do to protect our patrons’ privacy, and library involvement with social networking sites should make us reconsider the concept of “library records.” Bonnie Nelson will discuss the New York State Law on Confidentiality of Library Records and the USA PATRIOT Act;  Polly Thistlethwaite will talk about real-life privacy issues at the Circulation and Reference Desks; and Anamika Dasgupta will discuss the paradox of privacy and the role of libraries in social networking. Lively discussion should follow.