Libraries Renew Push Against Secret Orders

The American Library Association, which includes academic libraries among its members, is today wrapping up a two-day effort to press members of Congress to approve bills it likes and kill those it doesn't. Leslie Burger, the ALA's president, says that a top priority for the group is to have Congress revise a provision of the USA Patriot Act—an anti-terrorism law–that has allowed federal authorities to demand patron records from a variety of groups, including libraries. The demand, in the form of a national-security letter, is controversial because it is issued without a judge's approval and bars the recipients from discussing the letter's content with anyone except their lawyers.

Congress says the USA Patriot Act was revised a year ago to exclude virtually all libraries from receiving such orders. But the ALA says the statement is vaguely worded. According to Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the association's Washington office, the Justice Department doesn't accept that libraries are excluded from receiving national-security letters. The ALA wants Congress to make the language exempting libraries definitive, and it also wants Congress to be more aggressive in monitoring the government's use of the orders. –Andrea L. Foster