Bill of Rights 8.4.2003

Librarians Join the Fight Against The Patriot Act

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.

• Librarian.net for activism among librarians
• Signs I wish all libraries would display
• Registration-free version of the article. Apparently, http://archive.nytimes.com doesn't require registration. Substitute 'archive' for 'www' in Times URLs.

You might want to visit the American Library Association.