Communicating to your patrons

Key Messages

Passwords are coming on March 28.
Passwords are for patrons' benefit.
- Libraries have a long tradition of taking extraordinary measures to ensure the privacy of those who use library facilities and access library materials
- A password provides an extra layer of security that patrons will use for accessing their library account online.
- Passwords are for more than keeping your reading history private. PII such as personal contact information can be more easily accessed without passwords in place - information that has the potential to result in identity theft.
Passwords will be easy to manage. Patrons will have a default password, and when they log into Pika on or after March 28, they will be prompted to reset this default password. Passwords must six alpha-numeric characters.
Patrons should treat their library card just like a credit card. A library account unprotected by a password could be used by bad actors to check out materials for which patrons will be responsible, resulting in replacement fees if those items aren’t returned.