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Go librarians!
According to the Patriot Act, public libraries must surrender
information about their patrons to the FBI on request. It is a
felony for them to refuse or to inform a patron that his records have
been given to the FBI.
The "New York Times" article referenced on "Slashdot" tells of the
actions of the Santa Cruz, CA, libraries: they are shredding discarded
paperwork such as written requests to the reference desk and logs of
computer users. Furthermore, they are informing patrons of the
Library's responsibilities under Patriot Act.
The article doesn't say when a patron's borrowing
record is purged.
Fairfax County Public Library,
my local library, has a public policy of the
confidentiality of patron records.
They destroy the borrowing records the books are returned.
A couple of the Slashdotters provided some interesting links in their
comments on the Times article.
You might want to visit the American Library Association.
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