Although its Santa Cruz counterpart has recently followed suit,
Gilroy and county librarians remain torn over whether they should
post information telling library-goers the government may be
watching them. The Morgan Hill Library has already decided.
Although its Santa Cruz counterpart has recently followed suit, Gilroy and county librarians remain torn over whether they should post information telling library-goers the government may be watching them. The Morgan Hill Library has already decided.
“We have nothing posted and have been told to refer all inquiries (from police, the FBI or other government agencies) to county library administration,” said Bev Vessa. She is running the Morgan Hill Library while interim librarian Nancy Howe is on vacation. City Librarian Sarah Flowers is on temporary assignment, filling in as deputy county librarian at headquarters through June.
Since Congress passed the anti-terrorism inspired Patriot Act of 2001, law enforcement’s surveillance and investigative powers have been broadly expanded. The law allows the government to more easily find out which books library users are borrowing and where they spend their time online when using library computers.
“Basically, the government can access our records without a subpoena or court order. The FBI, for example, could come in and just ask for patron records and we would be expected to comply,” Gilroy Head Librarian Lani Yoshimura said.
“This is different from anything we’ve experienced before,” said Melinda Cervantes, the county’s head librarian. “I want to get the pulse of libraries around the county before we decide to post information that could have a chilling effect.”
Since the American Library Association is opposing this section of the Patriotic Act, Cervantes also wonders if posting the sign would be read by patrons as a political statement. Cervantes said librarians have always had to cooperate with investigators who have subpoenas or court orders, but similar warning signs have never been displayed.
“I want to know what’s motivating us to put up this information when we haven’t done so before,” Cervantes said.
Santa Clara County libraries, Cervantes said, do not retain records after a patron has returned a book or other material to the library.
“That’s a built-in privacy mechanism our software has always had,” Cervantes said.
The Santa Cruz notice says, “Warning: Although the Santa Cruz Library makes every effort to protect your privacy, under the federal USA Patriot Act (Public Law 107-56), records of the books and other materials you borrow from this library may be obtained by federal agents. That federal law prohibits library workers from informing you if federal agents have obtained records about you. Questions about policy should be directed to Attorney General John Ashcroft, Department of Justice, Washington D.C. 20530.”
Since the Patriot Act’s inception, no government inquiries have been made in Santa Clara County Cervantes said.
Morgan Hill resident John Newton also feels safer with the law in effect.
“I don’t care at all if the government is looking at what I read,” Newton said. “I have nothing to hide.”
Newton said he is not concerned over any lack of publicity about the Patriot Act.
“If someone who is planning to build a bomb, let’s say, doesn’t know he’s being watched, that might be a good thing,” Newton said.
Morgan Hill Library patron and Friend of the Library Carol O’Hare said she doesn’t have anything to hide either but objects to the Act.
“I really worry that the Attorney General is ignoring the First Amendment,” she said, “which is critical to our idea of freedom – the very freedoms we went into Iraq to foster.”
Another library patron, Tondrub De Groote, has problems with other elements of the Patriot Act, but not the one concerning more government access to records.
“With more electronic data to survey, the government will never have enough people (working for it) to survey everyone,” De Groote said.
De Groote’s concern is over the increased ability of law enforcement to arrest and detain individuals suspected of terrorism.
“Free persons can only remain free by accountable due process. When you destroy the accountability of incarcerators, it castrates the free people of an empire, freedom ceases to reproduce,” De Groote said.
The American Library Association is supporting legislation introduced by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The bill, known as the Freedom to Read Protection Act, would exempt libraries and booksellers from certain provisions of the Patriot Act in order to protect the right to read and access information without governmental intrusion or monitoring.
