Posted June 2, 2003.

Wisconsin, California Trustees Seek Patriot Act Exemptions

In independent actions, the Door County (Wis.) and the Livermore (Calif.) public libraries have asked lawmakers to rescind Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The section gives federal agents the ability to get a court order to obtain an individual’s bookstore or library records without establishing probable cause, and forbids librarians and booksellers from notifying anyone of the probe, including the person under investigation.

On May 20, the board of the Door County Library instructed Director Becca Berger to write congressional representatives asking them to back Section 215’s repeal. “The burden on our library staff to act as secret informants is wrong,” trustee Jack Jordan remarked. Jordan characterized the action as a “middle course” after dismissing as “propagandistic” the posting of Patriot Act warning signs at Santa Cruz (Calif.) Public Library, according to the May 28 Green Bay News-Chronicle.

In Livermore, California, the library board agreed May 22 to send two letters to the city council—one asking for support of the California and American Library Associations’ resolutions denouncing Section 215 and the other urging city officials to endorse the Freedom to Read Protection Act, according to the May 24 Contra Costa Times.

The day after Livermore trustees approved the letters, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced the Library and Bookseller Protection Act, which would exempt libraries and bookstores from turning over personally identifiable information on patrons’ reading choices for foreign-intelligence investigations.

Posted June 2, 2003.