How Librarians Can Strengthen Children's Privacy Literacy

From completing schoolwork on a laptop to playing online games with friends, children increasingly experience the world through digital technologies. These digital interactions generate data about children and make their information visible to others, raising questions about children’s privacy. Librarians are well-positioned to help children understand and grapple with these privacy issues: privacy is a core value of librarianship, and librarians already lead educational efforts related to information, media, and digital literacy. Session organizer Priya Kumar is an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University who studies how digital technologies affect children’s privacy. In this session, she will discuss how school librarians approach children’s privacy and incorporate it into their lessons. However, this is not a typical research presentation. The session will involve a series of small group exercises designed to help participating librarians identify ways to integrate privacy-related information into what they are already doing with children, providing ample opportunity for peer-to-peer learning. Along the way, Priya will share what her research team has learned through interviews with school librarians. Participants will leave this session with a fresh perspective on what privacy means for children and concrete ideas about how to they can equip children to navigate the digital world.