Library computer records may yield valuable clues in the FBI investigation into the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. One week later, a Florida district court ordered the Broward County (Fla.) Division of Libraries to turn over electronic files believed to contain information related to the planning and execution of the attacks.
Federal agents questioned the staff about what type of information might be available, Library Director Sam Morrison told American Libraries, then obtained a subpoena. “We spent the next three hours running the list of names they gave us against our database to see if there were any matches.” Morrison said the agents also requested Internet sign-in sheets from two branches in Hollywood.
“We want to assure the public that we are cooperating fully and have been cooperating fully from the very beginning,” Morrison said, adding that the FBI is aware that a Florida statute governs disclosure of information at public libraries, and investigators are making sure that everything is done legally.
The Associated Press and other news outlets have reported several other library-related investigations. In Delray Beach, Florida, FBI agents seized two computers September 19 after research librarian Kathleen Hensman informed police that one of the men believed to have hijacked United Airlines flight 175 and crashed it into the World Trade Center’s south tower may have visited the library in July to use the Internet.
At the Bethlehem (Pa.) Public Library, a custodian discovered a flight instruction manual for an American Airlines plane in a library wastebasket. Police were notified and the document was handed over to the FBI. The agency also seized records and a library computer from the University of Texas Health Science Center in connection with a suspect who is a radiology resident there. In the Washington, D.C., area, investigators have requested computer lab sign-in lists from the Sherwood Regional Library in Fairfax County.
Posted September 24, 2001.