Million Signatures Sought
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
ISSN 0028-9485 May 2004 Vol. LIII No. 3 www.ala.org/nif Groups representing booksellers, librarians and writers launched a nationwide effort February 17 to obtain one million signatures in support of legislation to amend Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. The groups hope to persuade Congress to restore safe- guards for the privacy of bookstore and library records that were eliminated by the Act. The Campaign for Reader Privacy—sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association and PEN American Center—will gather signatures in bookstores, libraries and on a new Web site, www.readerprivacy.org. Over the last year, Republicans, Democrats and Independents have joined to sponsor a number of bills to amend Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, including the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) and the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act, S. 1709. “Booksellers are deeply concerned about the chilling effect of Section 215 and President Bush’s stated intent to seek blanket reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act,” said million ABA Chief Operating Officer Oren Teicher. Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act signatures (FISA) to give the FBI vastly expanded authority to search business records, including the records of bookstores and libraries: the FBI may request the records secretly; it is not required to prove that there is “ probable cause” to believe the person whose records are sought being sought has committed a crime; and the bookseller or librarian who receives an order is prohibited from revealing it to anyone except those whose help is needed to produce the records. “ This isn’t about stripping law enforcement of the power to investigate terrorism. It’s about restoring confidence that our reading choices aren’t being monitored by the gov- ernment,” said Larry Siems, director of PEN’s Freedom to Write Program. The Bush administration opposes changes in Section 215. Attorney General John Ashcroft has characterized concern over the privacy of bookstore and library records as “ hysteria.” In his State of the Union message on January 20, President George Bush called on Congress to reauthorize the provisions of the PATRIOT Act that are due to expire at the end of next year, including Section 215. More than 253 anti-PATRIOT Act resolutions have been passed nationwide in states, counties, cities and small towns— (continued on page 130) Published by the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, Nancy C. Kranich, Chair Deenie..............................................................................95 in this issue The Devil ......................................................................117 The Devil’s Storybook....................................................117 Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey ....................98 million signatures sought ................................................89 Eat Me ..........................................................................115 The Empty Grave ............................................................95 most challenged of 2003 ................................................91 Horse ..............................................................................97 King & King ....................................................................97 RFID raises questions......................................................91 Marijuana Grower’s Guide ............................................98 Sex Toys 101 ..................................................................117 scientists say administration distorts facts ......................92 To Kill a Mockingbird ....................................................98 Ultimate Guide to Fellatio ............................................117 Charles Levendosky ........................................................93 Walter the Farting Dog ................................................118 The Witch Master’s Key ..................................................95 James Madison Award ....................................................94 periodicals Eli Oboler Memorial Award............................................94 Beacon OU [U. of Oklahoma] ......................................111 The Heights [Boston Coll.] ..........................................121 censorship dateline: libraries, schools, Playboy............................................................................99 student press,periodicals, broadcasting, Playgirl............................................................................99 cable TV, Internet,foreign ........................................95 Seawanhaka [Long Island U.] ......................................100 Sports Illustrated ............................................................99 from the bench: U.S. Supreme Court, The Trojan Epic [Lely H.S.]..........................................100 privacy, university, Internet....................................103 is it legal?: libraries, schools, colleges and universities, access to information, publishing, Views of contrubutors to the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom broadcasting, privacy ............................................109 are not necessarily those of the editors, the Intellectual Freedom Committee, or the American Library Association. success stories: libraries, schools, student press ..........115 (ISSN 0028-9485) SIRS-ProQuest State and Regional Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom is published bimonthly (Jan., Achievement Award ......................................................131 Mar., May, July, Sept., Nov.) by the American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. The newsletter is also avail- able online at www.ala.org/nif. Subscriptions: $70 per year (print), which includes annual index; $50 per year (electronic); and $85 per year (both print and electronic). For multiple subscriptions to targets of the censor the same address, and for back issues, please contact the Office books for Intellectual Freedom at 800-545-2433, ext. 4223 or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ..............................91 [email protected]. Editorial mail should be addressed to the Office of The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest ........95 Intellectual Freedom, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, Illinois 60611. Periodical postage paid at Chicago, IL at additional mailing Beware This House Is Haunted ......................................95 offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Newsletter on The Bluest Eye ..............................................................118 Intellectual Freedom, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. 90 Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom Alice series most challenged of out and track its collection and reduce costly workplace- related injuries. But critics fear it could plunge the library’s 2003 customers into Orwellian quicksand, allowing everybody Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s Alice series tops the list of most from government investigators to computer hackers to peek challenged books of 2003, ending the four-year reign of J. K. into the sacrosanct privacy of the book bag. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, according to the American The tracking devices are called radio-frequency identi- Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom. fication computer chips, RFID for short. They’ve been The Alice series drew complaints from parents and others embraced by everyone from the Food and Drug Admini- concerned about the books’ sexual content. stration, which uses them to trace prescription drugs, to The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received Wal-Mart to track its inventory. The San Francisco Public reports of a total of 458 challenges last year. A challenge is Library sees them as a better way of keeping track of its defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library books than tagging volumes with a bar code, which must or school requesting that materials be removed because of be read by laser scanner. content or appropriateness. The majority of challenges are The chips emit a radio signal that can be picked up from reported by public libraries, schools and school libraries. a remote site. Most current chip readers can pick up a sig- According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for nal from just three feet away, but that range is expected to Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects expand as the technology improves. That’s when privacy only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five advocates fear that anyone with a handheld wand will be likely remain unreported. able to scope out that copy of The Anarchist Cookbook in The “Ten Most Challenged Books of 2003” reflect a your book bag. Perhaps it will be an airport screener, who wide variety of themes. The books, in order of most fre- may then ask you to step out of line. quently challenged are: “Because RFID tags are insecure, the tags can poten- tially be read by other readers at places other than the ● Alice series, for sexual content, using offensive lan- library,” said Lee Tien, an attorney with the Electronic guage, and being unsuited to age group. Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco digital rights advo- ● Harry Potter series, for its focus on wizardry and magic. cacy group. “What happens is that RFID can become an all- ● Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, for using offen- purpose tracking system.” sive language. Supporters describe the chips as the next generation of ● Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun the bar code and point to more than 250 libraries nation- Culture, by Michael A.