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Librarians are on front lines against easier government
access to records
BOULDER, Colo. — Librarians are not keeping quiet about the USA Patriot
Act.
The antiterrorism legislation, passed a month after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks, allows federal agents to obtain from public libraries the records
of books and other materials circulated to individual patrons if a special
federal court in Washington grants permission as part of a terrorism
or foreign spying investigation.
"Librarians can’t be quiet about this because it’s so fundamental
to what we do," said Carla Hayden, president of the American Library
Association. "As
librarians we are in a position of trust. People know they can come to
us and ask for information, and we won’t judge them."
from
the Boston Globe
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