In consultation and partnership with the Library of Michigan, MLA submitted a proposal to the Records Management Services (Dept. of Technology, Management and Budget) for a change in the amount of time that surveillance footage must be retained in the General Schedule for Public Libraries, GS #17. This change was prompted by the Michigan Library Privacy Act legislation (2020 PA 315) enacted in December 2020.

The proposed changes were accepted and the revised schedule is now available online at GS 17 Public Libraries (michigan.gov)

The old retention policy required two (2) months before video could be destroyed. The newly adopted retention policy now states that seven (7) days is enough time for a library to preserve footage necessary to address crime committed in or against the library. Reducing the amount of footage required will save libraries from the costly media and digital storage necessary to preserve surveillance footage for two months.