The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism---Act was signed into law on October 25, 2001, forty-five days after September 11th. The bill careened through both houses of Congress with the ferocity of a firestorm and left one dissenting senator in its wake. The USA Patriot Act didn’t prompt me to speak out until I learned that it overrides or alters 36 previously enacted pieces of legislation. While the sweeping statute broadens surveillance guidelines and tightens immigration laws, my particular angst is with sections 215 and 216, which among other effects, erode the privacy rights of public library users.

Why get vexed over this issue, you ask? Because the rights of individuals to read what they want and seek information they need without the fear of someone looking over their shoulder or judging their choices, underpins our democratic society. Protecting user privacy has been a long-standing practice in public libraries. Forty-eight states protect the confidentiality of library patron records by law, and the remaining two follow suit based on opinions of their Attorneys General. Borrowing records can be released to law enforcement agents upon presentation of a court order, but the order must show cause based on specific facts. The USA Patriot Act undermines this tradition.

Under the rubric of the Act, officials may seize library patron records, computer sign-in sheets and Internet searching logs based loosely on a claim that the records are relevant to an intelligence investigation. Library personnel may not disclose to anyone the substance of a visit by the government or that the visit occurred at all. During the year following September 11th, five hundred forty-five libraries revealed in an anonymous survey that federal and local government agents had sought their libraries’ records. Given the gag order, there is no way to know how many of these searches, if any, invoked the USA Patriot Act

The specter of monitoring public library users has triggered reactions within the library community. The majority position, regrettably, is one of apathy. These library officials believe that until the government parades through their doors, the Patriot Act is not their issue. The second group, a minority of libraries, places a priority on cooperating with the government’s counter-terrorism campaign. They have gone so far as to cull from their collections titles that advance terrorism and/or report to the government individuals who display “suspicious” behavior.

The third group, viewing the Patriot Act as an abridgement of fundamental freedoms, is rallying to loosen the Act’s stronghold. Library boards and officials are crafting policies which explain the limits on privacy protection. They’re alerting constituents to the impact of the Patriot Act. They’re shredding records that link patrons with materials borrowed. They’re installing software that purges Internet search histories. They have joined forces to support legislation that would exempt public libraries from provisions of the USA Patriot Act or at least dilute their chilling effects.

These events remind me, as they do many others, of the McCarthy era witch-hunts, all conducted in the name of patriotism. In 1954, when I was seven years old, representatives of the FBI visited my parents. The agents were investigating my playmate’s father, whom they suspected of being a Communist. The officials asked my parents to aid the investigation by notifying authorities if my friend’s family announced plans to leave town or exhibited unusual behavior. My father and mother refused to comply. The courage of their stance inspires me to this day.

Although proponents of the Patriot Act believe it intensifies the lamp of liberty, I believe it diminishes the flame. While advocates say it strikes a blow at the swelling threat of terrorism, I contend that its erosion of the First and Fourth Amendments embodies an equally serious act of terror. Attorney General John Ashcroft claims the Patriot Act has never been used to seize public library records and chides librarians for being, in his view, hysterical. Regardless of the government’s practice, the unbridled legal powers set forth by the Act evoke my deep concern.

Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, founders of public libraries in America and patriots if ever there were, doubtlessly would repudiate the USA Patriot Act. They understood the stresses between personal freedoms and government controls, but they believed the liberties to think, speak and write without government intrusion were inalienable. Their tenets continue to be touchstones for me in this ideological battle. The government has the right to employ measures to combat terrorism, but the rights of citizens to inquire and study without fear of reprisal are hallmarks of democracy that require vigilant protection.

Mary Doud works as Assistant Director for Public Services at Kalamazoo Public Library. This viewpoint is written as a private citizen and not as a spokesperson for her employer.

Mary Doud
1914 Skyler Drive
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
388-5330 (H)
553-7829 (W)