Library Records Open to Parental Scrutiny: A New Set of Internet Access Controls for Minors

In Part I, this article surveys the state privacy laws that regulate parental access to minors’ library records, examines administrative and judicial interpretations of these statutes and reports a current legislative trend of allowing increased parental access to minors’ library records. In Part II, this Note questions the constitutionality of granting parental access to minors’ library records, weighing parental supervisory interests against minors’ free speech and privacy interests, and concludes that parental access to library records poses a serious threat to the right to receive information for older minors.