PENNSYLVANIA Librarians counter fears over privacy

An anti-terror law permitting searches of library records has raised alarm.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Although many Pennsylvania librarians are concerned about a federal law that allows FBI agents investigating terrorists to search libraries' records and hard drives, some don't think investigators will find much.
A state statute in place long before the creation of the USA Patriot Act keeps library records confidential except by a court order in a criminal proceeding.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the deputy director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom within the American Library Association, said no other state protects library patrons' privacy to such an extent.
After the creation of the 1984 law, many librarians decided to go a step further. They followed an ALA recommendation and started to throw away, purge or shred unnecessary records every day because they felt it was their legal duty to protect their patrons' privacy, Caldwell-Stone said.
"If a record doesn't exist, it can't be found," Caldwell-Stone said. "They have no duty under any law to keep a record."
So when the federal law was passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, some library officials didn't feel the need to change their policies, while others stepped up procedures already in place, Caldwell-Stone said.
Law's provisions
The Patriot Act gives the FBI new powers to identify terrorist cells by giving agents the ability to look at library records and computer hard drives to see what books patrons have checked out and what Web pages they've visited.
Librarians across the nation have reacted strongly to the federal law.
Librarians in Skokie, Ill., and Killington, Vt., have posted signs warning patrons about the act. In Calais, Maine, librarians have handed out leaflets, and in Santa Cruz, Calif., they have shredded computer logs.
But the law gives agents the power to research the library habits only of "agents of foreign powers" and won't be used to investigate "garden-variety crimes," said spokesman Jorge Martinez of the U.S. Department of Justice, who added that libraries aren't specifically named in the Patriot Act.
"We're not going after the average American; we're just going after the bad guy," he said.
Confidentiality policy
Considering that libraries are obligated under state law to protect patrons' privacy and there was a chance that a staff member could come face to face with a court order, the Mount Lebanon Public Library formed all its policies with confidentiality in mind.
For years, the library has purged checkout records once materials are returned and tossed computer sign-up sheets at the end of the day, said library director Cynthia K. Richey.
"We've never saved records. The USA Patriot Act doesn't change much," she said.
Although laws concerning the confidentiality of library records differ from state to state, it's not likely the Patriot Act would conflict with most laws, Caldwell-Stone said. That's because in most states, law enforcement must get a court order to access library records, and under the Patriot Act, federal agents must get a judge's order to get permission to check library records.
But Witold "Vic" Walczak, the American Civil Liberties Union's legal director in Pittsburgh, said federal agents don't have to show probable cause in open court and can go to a secret court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.