In this first issue of "Research Library Issues" ("RLI") in 2019, the authors explore privacy from a legal, digital, and applied perspective, with a focus on the implications and opportunities for research libraries. The current privacy landscape highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of the complicated nature of privacy today. Research libraries need to collaborate with other privacy-related constituents within institutions and in the public policy and legislative arenas, and act as trusted institutions within a democratic society. The articles contained in this issue are: Reader Privacy: The New Shape of the Threat (Clifford Lynch); Legal Landscape of Consumer/User Data Privacy and Current Policy Discussions (Krista L. Cox); and Privacy in Public Libraries (Bill Marden and Greg Cram).