Lewiston Police | The library's cameras, and the only written policy
The Lewiston City Library's Board of Trustees adopted a security camera policy in January 2025 and aligned it to a citywide policy. Neither text is published, and the library board is the only body in the county whose camera rules reached a vote.
At a glance
- Where the cameras are
- The Lewiston City Library [1]
- Who pays for new ones
- The city's Information Systems and Security function [1]
- A written policy
- Yes, adopted 15 January 2025 [3]
- Whether the policy is published
- Neither the library policy nor the city policy it was aligned to appears in the record we read [3]
- What the cameras record and for how long
- Not stated in the minutes [3]
How it happened
- Context
Who pays, and what comes next
The library director tells the Board of Trustees that Information Systems and Security will now cover the cost of future camera installations, and raises the possible installation of cameras at the library's public door accesses. [1]
- Debate
Two policies
A Security Camera Policy is presented to the Board, with an explanation of why there are now two policies governing the library, so that the Board can consider changing the existing library policy or rescinding it. No action is taken. [2]
- Decision
Adopted
The Board discusses the updated Security Camera Policy and the additions made to align it with the city policy, and approves it on a motion, seconded, all in favor. [3]
The body in Nez Perce County that has debated camera rules in public, written them down and voted on them is the Lewiston City Library’s Board of Trustees.
It happened over four months. In September 2024 the library director told the Board that the city’s Information Systems and Security function would cover the cost of future camera installations, and raised the possible installation of cameras at the library’s public door accesses.[1]
In November a Security Camera Policy came to the Board, with an explanation of why there were now two policies governing the library, so that the trustees could consider changing the existing library policy or rescinding it. They took no action that night.[2]
In January 2025 they came back to it. The minutes record that the Board discussed the updated Security Camera Policy and the additions included in order to align it with the city policy, and approved it on a motion, seconded, all in favor.[3]
The policy nobody can read
Two written rules governing cameras in Lewiston are named in that record. One is the library’s. The other is the city’s, which the library’s was written to match. Neither text appears in anything the city has published that we could reach.
This is a library, and the stakes of its camera policy are smaller than those of the plate readers the police department bought in the same season. What makes it worth recording is the contrast in process. The library’s cameras got a presentation, two meetings, a discussion of which of two policies should govern them, and a recorded vote. The city’s plate readers got a line in a list of bills.
What we do not know
- What does the library's security camera policy say about who may view footage and for how long it is kept?
- What is the citywide security camera policy the library's was aligned to, and which city buildings does it cover?
- Were cameras installed at the library's public door accesses, and how many are there?
What you can do
Show up
Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have confirmed where each of them meets in Nez Perce County and how public comment works there.
How to show up in Nez Perce County →Protect yourself
Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.
Surveillance Self-Defense →Sources
- 1. Lewiston City Library Board of Trustees minutes, 18 September 2024 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 2. Lewiston City Library Board of Trustees minutes, 20 November 2024 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 3. Lewiston City Library Board of Trustees minutes, 15 January 2025 · Meeting record · · accessed
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