Removing materials from public libraries for 'Homeland Security'

[zakur]

Recently, a message was posted to one of the listservs (http://archive.oplin.lib.oh.us/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0303&L=oplinlist&F=&S=&P=22215) to which I subscribe:Yesterday a woman requested the "Allen County Hazardous Materials Emergency Plan". When I gave her the binder, she took out the contents and handed me a letter stating the document would no longer be available at public libraries because it contained "highly critical" information and would only be available "at a controlled location where proper ID of the user can be readily obtained." The letter was signed by the Director of the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

I've known materials were being removed from libraries, but I never thought they would come to our small library, and I was shocked at the way she obtained the material first, then informed me after she had it in hand. Frankly, I don't even know what was in the document and I couldn't tell you how critical the information is. It is not something I've been asked for before. Should this concern me that it has been taken from our library, or should I be happy we are being watched over?

What concerns me is wondering how far this will go. Indeed, how far has it gone? Is anyone keeping track (Intellectual Freedom Committee) of what is being removed from Ohio libraries and if it is available at another location? Has anyone tried to view something which has been removed and is said to be available elsewhere?

Does anyone else care? Or do we only care when a parent wants a child's book removed because she finds it offensive and morally dangerous?The responses she has gotten so far can be read here (http://archive.oplin.lib.oh.us/cgi-bin/wa?A1=ind0303&L=oplinlist#32).

So, does anybody think that an action like this is cause for concern? Will more documents or books that are deemed to hold "critical" information start to be removed from public libraries across the country?

[corplinx]

This has been going on for a while since it was discovered the terror suspects had been going through these sorts of documents.

It used to be you could give out the blueprints to a dam without a worry but we awoke one day in a much scarier world.

However, these are government libraries and they should abide government rules. I don't think there are any true "public" libraries in my region.

What I find distasteful is that people are trying to link this to an agenda of banning other types of books.

[hgc]

Corplinx:

What I find distasteful is that people are trying to link this to an agenda of banning other types of books.
You'll see, when the Office of Homeland Morality confiscates copies of "Fear of Flying." I mean afterall, the library is a government institution, not a public institution.

If I were a terrorist, I would want to know what to expect in the way of emergency response from the government.

However, having worked for the government for 20 years I can tell you that the government never responds according to "The Plan." The book is the first thing to go out the window. They screw it up all the way down the line. :(

[corplinx]

Originally posted by hgc

You'll see, when the Office of Homeland Morality confiscates copies of "Fear of Flying." I mean afterall, the library is a government institution, not a public institution.

I didnt say they were clever. Just that they won't be banning Madonna's "Sex" under this statute.

[NoZed Avenger]

Has this been confirmed elsewhere?

Not that it isn't believable, but the "I never thought they'd come to our small library" has the feel of a Penthouse letter (from reputation only): "I never thought this would happen to me, but my eyes cought those of the cute redheaded receptionist as I looked at the window-washer's gear near her shapely legs . . . "

NA

[shanek]

The Library Research Center at the University of Illinois did a survey of 906 libraries one year after the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act. Here's some of what they found:

8. In the year preceding September 11, 2001, about how
many requests about your patrons did you receive from
authorities such as the FBI, INS, or police officers?

None. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.5%
Only 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.3
2-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4
6-10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1
More than 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0
Don't know/Unsure . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7
100.0%

That may not sound like much, but considering there are 9,074 public libraries in the country (http://www.ala.org/library/fact1.html), that means that over 1300 public libraries received personal information requests from the government in one year! Not only that:

14. If one or more requests (Q.13a) was a court order,
did any of the orders prohibit you from telling patrons
that the authorities had requested information about
them?
Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1%
No. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.3
No court orders received. . . . . . . . 82.6
100.0%

So ruling out the ones who didn't receive court orders, of the ones who did 17.8% of them said that they couldn't even tell the person that information had been requested about them!

I don't know if the above story is true or not, but it's clear that your rights are very much in danger in public libraries. So much so that the American Library Association passed this resolution. (http://www.ala.org/washoff/Patriotres.html)

By the way, the full stats of the above survey are here. (http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/gslis/research/finalresults.pdf)

[zakur]

Originally posted by corplinx
This has been going on for a while since it was discovered the terror suspects had been going through these sorts of documents.By "the terror suspects" do you mean the 9/11 terror suspects? Do you have a citation to back up this claim? Everything I've read has said the the government is taking these precautions under the assumption that terrorists might use this information for nefarious purposes, not that any actually have.What I find distasteful is that people are trying to link this to an agenda of banning other types of books. There are already multiple agendas to ban all types of books. Has anyone seriously suggested that the government would ban Madonna's "Sex" under this statute? No.

[hgc]

After thinking about this situation, this is the worst way for some clueless local government functionary to go about removing materials from the library.

Any "terrorist" could forge the letter and go around collecting the documents for private perusal at home.

I would expect that the proper government agency (local) should have sent a letter to the director of the library system instructing about the removal of these materials from public access. To have some flunkie go around to libraries tricking the librarians into handing them over so they can run out with them is lame.

[zakur]

For an update on this particular incident in Ohio, click here (http://archive.oplin.lib.oh.us/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0303&L=oplinlist&F=&S=&P=24168) This morning my Assistant Director, Candy Newland, and Head of Public Relations, Karen Sommer, met with Russ Decker, local Director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency and his Deputy Director. The purpose of the meeting was to make the Agency aware that the Library was at issue with the fact that library materials were removed from the collection.

We made clear that the official policy of the Library is to work in cooperation with local civil and legal authority. However, the removal of library materials presents a very serious issues. It is the official policy of the Lima Public Library that all donated materials become the property of the Library and their removal is subject to our approval. If any other Allen County resident had done this, we would have considered it a theft.

To highlight the meeting, the following points became clear:

1. The FBI has been testing libraries to see what information they can obtain on strategic points within the community. Oddly enough, the staff of the Lima Public Library was able to help local agents (posing as patrons) find the materials for which they were looking.
2. Our local office of Homeland security believes that Library Staff should be reporting any suspicious research activities to local authorities (Mr. Decker was disabused of this notion immediately).
3. Mr. Decker feels he has sole authority to remove anything/s he feels to be a national threat. A citizen's recourse is to take the issue to court and then a judge will determine whether or not the correct decision was made.
4. Mr. Decker informed us that there was nothing else that they would wish to remove. He had the authority to remove only this particular document. He did not know, however, what would be of interest to other state or federal agencies.
5. Mr. Decker presented us with a copy of the letter that was delivered to our Reference desk concerning the removal of the material. They did not know what to call the "head" of the library, here so they just left the form letter about the "update" at the desk.
6. Mr. Decker stated that he was not worried about the media. He has dealt with them many times. This was such a small issue that they wouldn't be interested. After all, the media had not made a fuss over any of the legislation that had been passed thus far affecting the availability of information .
7. The Office of Homeland Security was aware of the OPLIN discussions of the incident.

Mrs. Newland's final impression is that Mr. Decker feels that he was within his full right to remove the materials. He was doing it as a preventative measure because that information that could be used by terrorists to destroy over 140 sites of chemical holdings within Allen County. Making such information available without a record of who looked at it would be inappropriate. Proper ID is required now to see the material, a valid Ohio driver's license which will be checked to ascertain whether or not there are any warrants out against the holder.

[PogoPedant]

Allow me to be overdramatic for a while:

Where they burn books, they will eventually burn people. In the US, they discreetly remove them.
;)

[pgwenthold]

Originally posted by zakur
Mrs. Newland's final impression is that Mr. Decker feels that he was within his full right to remove the materials. He was doing it as a preventative measure because that information that could be used by terrorists to destroy over 140 sites of chemical holdings within Allen County.

Are they going to remove any airplane flying manuals from the library? Airplanes could be used by terrorists to destroy lots of stuff.

How about organic chemistry textbooks? That information can not only be used by terrorists, but by drug dealers, too!

Man, is this a slippery slope or what?

"It could be used by terrorists..."

Time to outlaw boxcutters?

[Tmy]

Hey, I got one of those letters when I tried to talke out Dr. Suess's "Hop on Pop".!

[pgwenthold]

Originally posted by Tmy
Hey, I got one of those letters when I tried to talke out Dr. Suess's "Hop on Pop".!

You know, terrorists could use hopping as a way of terrorizing fathers.

[Richard G]

FEMA, your State and County EMA, and local firefighter and police are all aware of, and familiar with Hazmat plans. If anything sinister were in there, a large body of people would be aware of it.

Do you really care how a fire crew is going to mitigate a 5,000 gallon diesel fuel spill?