State library officials have come up with a laundry list of solid ideas for improving how services are offered to the public.

In particular, it makes good sense to hold parents accountable for the library fines their children may rack up, and to level out the amounts of the fines across the board.

And some library services, such as reserving online time and renewing book loans, can be managed via the Web, so taking advantage of this technology is a welcome idea.

One proposal, however, merits particular attention and concern: A proposed update to the library card application form would include the patron's birthdate.

State Librarian JoAnn Schindler said she's anticipating some resistance to that requirement, including complaints from those who feel that birthdate and age are not the library's business.

By itself, this is not a compelling enough reason to reject the idea. The information, after all, would be useful in keeping identities straight among people with similar names, which would be an issue when overdue fines are assessed. And a record of a patron's age could help the librarian determine whether the person is an adult and could request that filters be removed during Internet access.

The primary reason for concern is one of security. Know-ledge of birthdate can be an essential component in identity theft, a problem of mounting proportions in the information age.

The library ought to reconsider retaining that piece of information; pairing a name with the library's own identifying number may suffice in keeping people distinct.

The lure of gathering information into a database is convenience, but if it comes at the expense of security, the library system can't afford it.