Library 5:23 - June 27, 2002

Contents:

  1. IT'S HAPPENING! LIBRARIES VS. THE FBI
  2. FBI and libraries (email from Ann Sparanese, Mark Rosenzweig)
  3. New HERMES : REVUE CRITIQUE
  4. Joy of Censorship Update
  5. ALA Council Report to SRRT, June 25, 2002
  6. SHY LIBRARIAN
  7. African Libraries Listserve active again
  8. From the weblogs (and elsewhere)

Quote for the week: "I don't think we cut into their movie profits
last year."

--Patric Parker, the attorney representing a library whose
use of a "Book Mouse" mascot is being challenged
by Disney.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/2002/Jun/22/NOTE1.htm

Homepage of the week: Susanna Eng
http://www.shsu.edu/~lib_sme/

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1. IT'S HAPPENING! LIBRARIES VS. THE FBI

[From Holt Uncensored #330, June 25, 2002]

Remember that gag order on bookstores and libraries that scared everybody
witless back in February (see #303)?

Well, it's here, quietly being enforced, and if nothing is done to stop it,
I bet we're going to see a lot of libraries dumping records by the ton
very soon.

Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that "the FBI is visiting
libraries nationwide and checking the reading records of people it
suspects of having ties to terrorists or plotting an attack."

I love that word "visiting" - "ransacked" would be a better term.

Of course the FBI has been trying to get libraries to give up records for
years, so this part is nothing new. In the past - as in the '50s and '60s,
when the FBI found all those Communists hiding in the stacks - the press
made such a stink about this clear abuse of Constitutional protections
that the FBI stopped the practice (or said it did) by the '70s.

But now we have the USA Patriot Act, which gives FBI agents sweeping new
powers to "demand from bookstores and libraries the names of books bought
or borrowed by anyone suspected of involvement in 'international
terrorism' or 'clandestine activities,' " as Nat Hentoff wrote in the
Village Voice.

And, even worse, the gag order: Not only are librarians required to give up
these records, they are prohibited from talking to the press about it.
"We've heard from them [the FBI] and that's all I can tell you," a library
director in Florida told the AP in yesterday's story.

One suburban library in Chicago was "visited" by the FBI but had no record
of the person being investigated. Why that library? "Federal prosecutors
allege Global Relief Foundation, an Islamic charity based in the Chicago
suburb, has ties to Osama bin Laden's terror network."

And why libraries in Florida? Why, a lot of the 9/11 hijackers took flying
lessons there. Phoenix and San Diego libraries are surely next, if they
haven't been hit already.

How many libraries have been "visited?" The University of Illinois
conducted a survey in February and concluded that "85 libraries had been
asked by federal or local law enforcement officers for information about
patrons related to Sept. 11," the AP reports. By now the number must be
far higher.

THANK YOU, ALA COUNCIL

When I wrote about the gag rule in February, the only good news was that
the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom and the
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression were contacting First
Amendment lawyers like mad in the hopes of shoring up some protections of
our protections, as it were.

But now with the gag order actively imposed, it's hard to know what can be
said out loud, what can be acted against or who can risk speaking in a
public forum about what looks like a quietly spreading poison on American
civil liberties.

Last week, however, the ALA Council - the governing body of the American
Library Association - issued a statement on privacy that I think is very
brave and quite gripping, even for the most sophisticated civil
libertarian.

Without ever mentioning FBI incursions, this statement simply reiterates
that "privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought,
and free association"; that "protecting user privacy and confidentiality"
is central to the mission of libraries; and that it is "imperative" for
all libraries to "guard against impediments to open inquiry" as well as to
"cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting
abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas."

And here's the best part: "Users have the right to be informed what
policies and procedures govern the amount and retention of personally
identifiable information, why that information is necessary for the
library, and what the user can do to maintain his or her privacy." In
other words we have a RIGHT to know what records the library keeps on us,
and what it does with those records.

Ah, a big kiss and hug to the ALA! If you are a library user, you can
"expect" to have whatever information you provide "protected and kept
private and confidential by anyone with direct or indirect access to that
information." Love you more!

THE BIG CHILL

When First Amendment experts talk about Constitutional protections, the
word "chill" often emerges, because the big fear is that even the hint of
any abridgment of free speech, free thought, and free association will
drive people away from engaging in free speech, free thought and free
association.

As the ALA puts it, "when users recognize or fear that their privacy or
confidentiality is compromised, true freedom of inquiry no longer exists."
Also jeopardized is the practice of librarians to leave the user "in
control of as many choices as possible. These include decisions about the
selection of, access to, and use of information."

If users can't control everything about how they select and use
information, bingo: "Lack of privacy and confidentiality has a chilling
effect on users' choices." They'll stop using the library entirely once
they stop believing they're "free from any unreasonable intrusion into or
surveillance of their lawful library use."

Bravo again, you ALA dearhearts - this stuff should be plastered all over
the FBI offices, if not the agents themselves.

DUMP THE RECORDS NOW

I think two things may happen with the ALA as a result of these "visits."

First, the statement issued by the ALA Council refers many times to "the
courts" and existing law - how "the courts have established a First
Amendment right to receive information in a publicly funded library"; how
"the courts have upheld the right to privacy based on the Bill of Rights
of the U.S. Constitution"; how "many states provide guarantees of privacy
in their constitutions and statute law"; how "numerous decisions in case
law have defined and extended rights to privacy."

Maybe I'm too hopeful but could this be the beginning of a huge court
battle challenging the FBI or the USA Patriot Act, with the ALA in the
vanguard as one of many plaintiffs?

Second, the new maxim for librarians is: When in doubt, dump your records -
at least that's what Judith Krug of the ALA's Office for Intellectual
Freedom is telling librarians, bless her. Says the AP: "Krug tells worried
librarians who call that they should keep only the records they need and
should discard records that would reveal which patron checked out a book
and for how long."

ASKING AN OBVIOUS QUESTION

Attorney General John Ashcroft has often warned the American public that
you can't enjoy complete civil rights and expect to be safe from
terrorists at the same time. Something's got to give, he says: Since we
know terrorists are operating in this country and are planning more acts
of mass destruction, the American people have got to give the FBI real
powers to investigate.

That statement often quiets protesters, and even I agree it's an important
issue to discuss. But a big question behind all of it is this: What do FBI
agents think they're going to find in library records?

Let's say I'm Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabeei, one of the top 22 terrorists listed by
the FBI. How I love my library card! It's one of the great things about
living in America - you get to comb the stacks for books like "The Islamic
Fanatic Guidebook: How to Become a Suicide Bomber and Get Your Pilot
License in One Fell Swoop" by O.B.Laden.

Of course I've changed my name to Frank Albert and I use the wrong address,
so the only way the FBI can find me is by listing "The Islamic Fanatic
Guidebook" and other "suspicious" titles. Well, I'd like to know who's
going to decide what's "suspicious" and what isn't, but you know the FBI's
never gonna tell us that.

I do remember those classic examples that have tested our belief in the
First Amendment before - books on how to make a Molotov cocktail, remember
that? Or how to commit suicide, "How to Kill, Volumes 1-8"; how to make an
atomic bomb and of course, "Advanced Techniques of Clandestine Psychedelic
and Amphetamine Manufacture" by Uncle Fester, and "The Construction and
Operation of Clandestine Drug Laboratories" by Jack B. Nimble.

These last you may remember were the basis of police "visits" to The
Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, where owner Joyce Meskis refused to
turn over sales records and was eventually vindicated by the Colorado
Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the bookstore's right to protect
the privacy of readers. Who knows if she'd win today.]

In any case, what would be suspicious about "The Islamic Fanatic Guidebook"
anyway? If it were in the library, you can bet MANY people would take it
out, because many people would want to know how terrorists operate, and
many people might use a book like that for their 1) newspaper column 2)
term paper 3) speech 4) interview 5) bedtime reading 6) none of your
business.

And let's say FBI agents get records on the Global Relief Foundation, that
Islamic charity mentioned above: Suppose this charity borrows "The Islamic
Fanatic Guidebook." What does that mean? I can think of a hundred reasons
users might borrow it that wouldn't indict them as having "ties to Osama
bin Laden" - a donor might have told them it's a hoot, for example. That
wouldn't remove from suspicion any member of the Global Relief Foundation:
Remember what we learned from the McCarthy Era - guilt by association is
infallible.

I wouldn't say it's 100% stupid for the FBI to look for terrorists in the
public library. Butit does seem obvious that this kind of search is highly
unlikely to yield any real information. Surely agents are better off
turning to other priorities. #1 might be: Quit Pouting and Make up with
the CIA. #2: Keep your eye on known terrorists - who knows? They might
not have a library card.

CHURCHES ARE NEXT

But if it's 99.9% stupid for FBI agents to harangue libraries, why do they
do it? Why have they, as Ashcroft and FBI director Robert Mueller
announced a few weeks ago, sought and been given the power to go after
churches, political parties and the Internet as well as libraries and
bookstores?

The reason, said Ashcroft, is that under the present FBI guidelines, agents
"cannot surf the web the way you and I can." Yes, we've heard that: FBI
computers are so antiquated that agents can't do a two-word search.
Perhaps that should be Priority #3.

All right, pardon me: What he means is, the FBI is restricted from snooping
in ways that might violate the Constitution, so Ashcroft and Mueller want
to get rid of Constitutional protections altogether.

How will they do it? The process the FBI uses to gain access to records in
the library - and soon, presumably, in churches, political parties,
Internet, etc. - is this, as AP reports:

"First, the FBI must obtain a search warrant from a court that meets *in
secret* [my asterisks, can't help it] to hear the agency's case. The FBI
must show it has reason to suspect that a person is involved with a
terrorist or a terrorist plot - far less difficult than meeting the
tougher legal standards of probable cause, required for traditional search
warrants or reasonable doubt, required for convictions.

"With the warrant, FBI investigators can visit a library and gain immediate
access to the records."

And because of the gag rule, the librarian or bookseller or minister or
political party member can't say a thing.
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2. FBI and libraries (email from Ann Sparanese, Mark Rosenzweig)

Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 11:53:17 -0400
From: Ann Sparanese <sparanese[at]englewoodlibrary.org>
To: "srrtac-l[at]ala.org" <srrtac-l[at]ala.org>
Cc: PLGNet-L List <PLGNet-L[at]listproc.sjsu.edu>
Reply to: sparanese[at]englewoodlibrary.org

Colleagues,

Seems like Section 215 (the one that covers library surveillance)of the
USAPATRIOT Act is finally getting a lot of attention in the press,
starting with the SF Chronicle Article that was sent out on some of
these lists.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/06/23/MN75593.DTL

Yesterday, on Pacifica's "Democracy Now", Amy Goodman interviewed
Deborah Caldwell Stone, Deputy Director of the ALA's Office for
Intellectual Freedom and Leigh Estabrook, Director, Library Research
Center at the University of Illinois, about Section 215. You can check
out the program at

http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow/dn20020625.html

but, basically Deborah Stone told about the ALA's reaffirmation of
privacy rights of patrons and education of librarians on these points,
and not keeping unnecessary info on patrons. Esterbrook pointed out that
the Library Research Center has no idea how many libraries have been
asked to turn over information because of the secrecy of the whole
process. Of course, Amy asked the key question about whether the ALA
is actually opposing Section 215, and the answer was, (truthfully) no,
but we are seeking to educate the library community about it
(paraphrase).

This morning, in our local paper The (Bergen) Record, a big article
appeared entitled "FBI Checks Library Records as Part of Terror Probe."

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?level_3_id=25&page=4076045

There is a good, strong statement there by Judith Krug but -- the
article also paraphrases the exec director of our library cooperative
(70+ independent libraries that share a database system) as saying that
while libraries only have records of what materials are currently
checked out "historical information" is kept at the system
headquarters! News to us! I presume this means years' worth of records
of who checked out what easily accessible (not just lost in the computer
somewhere!) And in our system's case, this is "one-stop shopping" for
the FBI.

I was not at SRRT Action Council, so I am not aware if any resolutions
were passed this time specifically related to Section 215. I know it has
come up and maybe in a resolution passed at Midwinter? But I think that
since this section is NOW getting MAJOR attention EVEN in the mainstream
news, we should figure out a way to act to TRY to get active opposition
by the ALA against Section 215. We would definitely NOT be alone.
People are finally starting to READ the USAPATRIOT, and getting
concerned about what they see. ( I think that there are Congressional
hearings on the Act also planned?)

I think that if patrons knew that their records were an "open book" for
the FBI under the most questionable of rationales, they would be upset,
even given the current political climate. Remember, the Library
Awareness program could not stand the light of day even though the Cold
War was still going on.

Anyway, I know that this is probably not anything new to people on these
lists (PLEASE FORGIVE cross-posting) but I think we have new
possibilities because of the publicity it -- and ALA's position on
privacy -- is getting.

Ann Sparanese
Englewood, NJ

.......................................


FBI and Libraries
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 12:50:34 -0400
From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra[at]earthlink.net>
To: srrtac-l[at]ala.org, plgnet-l[at]listproc.sjsu.edu
Reply to: iskra[at]earthlink.net

Concerning the FBI and libraries: the following is an excerpt of the main
point of a letter I wrote June 3, 2002 to Council and Member-Forum and
distributed to SRRT, PLG, etc. I will re-post it now to ALAOIF, to which I
was it subscribed when I wrote it...Oh, by the way there was zero
response... The posting counterposes ALA's single-mindedness on defeating
CIPA with its unwillingness to confront the more fundamental FBI threat..I
suggest a grass-roots campaign to put up signs saying "Library --- Use at
your own risk! The FBI is watching.". It is virtually impossible to get ALA
or OIF to do anything on this. They had their chance when I first proffered
a resolution to reject the FBI library surveillance and we got stuck
instead with an official document which didn't challenge the government at
all. Librarians have to act creatively on this AND attract some (press,
etc) attention in doing so. Please read the following re-post...

MCR

+++++++

June 2, 2002
We have been fighting hard and probably will have to continue to fight --
despite our victory last week -- against the possible infringement of
First Amendment rights represented by legislation meant to impose the use
of Internet' filters' on libraries. We deserve to pat ourselves on the
back for winning, at considerable cost, yet another skirmish in that
ongoing war.Bravi! Bravissimo!

In the meantime, while we are fighting in CIPA real, but retail,
IF-infringement threats with all our resources and resourcefulness, as
well as with an intensity, I think we must concede, not readily understood
by all of our constituencies, we are as lambs being led to the
souvlaki-maker when it comes to the massive, wholesale openly declared,
threat to libraries' fundamental commitments to not only the First
Amendment but everything which makes the exercise of the First Amendment
possible (including constitutional rule of law itself).

I refer to generalissimo Ashcroft's latest diktat, disencumbering the FBI
from whatever little concern about individuals rights he wants us to
believe somehow hampered them in the prevention of the Sept. 11th disaster
and the ensuing 'war on terrorism' . A sham pretense if there ever was
one for the enactments he has imposed.

This changes the ball-park, folks. The First Amendment along with the rest
of the Bill of Rights and even Constitutional government are being openly
flouted, and our little part of the action having to do with people's
freedom to read without fear, is actually now a major battleground for
civil liberties by virtue of the explicit targeting of libraries as
surveillance points where the Constitution is in suspension for the
duration.

We should put up signs saying "Library Is Open --- Use At Your Own Risk".
That would be more useful than the 'correct' but timid reassertion of the
Library Bill of Rights post-9/11 with which we contentedly left the last
conference

At that conference I put before Council an opportunity to make a bold but
necessary statement on behalf of the public whose civil right had been
declared in advance to be the collateral damage of an undeclared war on..
well who is it this week?. I suggested then and I suggest now even more
strongly, publicly opposing the FBI's stated intention to covertly breach
- without stated cause and legal order - any and all library patrons'
reasonable expectations of privacy and to do so, not with a statement just
of business as usual, but of advocacy for the First Amendment.

Advocacy for the First Amendment not just, quite rightly, for
pornographers and neo-Nazis on the Internet, and -- more seriously-- for
those multitudes whose access to the Internet would be distorted by
filters attempting to block out the 'objectionable' content in libraries
-- but for the people of this country who in vast numbers believe they are
living under a Constitutional order which ,above all in their libraries,
is -- or should be --defended from encroachments by the vigilance of
librarians as a profession.

In light of the pronunciamentos of Mr. Ashcroft and the FBI placing them
above the law, I believe it is more important to for the moment refocus
our glasses on the big picture in order to fight, as librarians, against
the dangers of the so-called 'war on terrorism' than lashing at every gnat
in the irritating war on pornography, which, yes admittedly, we -- a small
minority -- know, rightly, to be only the beachhead of large-scale
censorious action in the battle plan of theocrats, but which compared to
the threat of our own Government's lawlessness is not, it seems to me, at
this moment at the very top of the list of reasonable national
professional concerns.

I would like to know if the President of ALAand/or the Executive Director
intend, in the name of the membership to state their outright opposition
to this covert and unregulated regime of surveillance which is about to
descend on the heads of our practioners and patrons alike. I should like
to think they were already penning such a statement.

Mark Rosenzweig
ALA Councilor at large
________________________________________________________________________top


3. New HERMES : REVUE CRITIQUE

Sommaire

Quand les riches se font la guerre,
ce sont les pauvres qui meurent.
Sartre, Jean-Paul

L'éclat de la poésie se révèle hors des moments qu'elle atteint
dans un désordre de mort.
Bataille, Georges

Présentation
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/presentation8.htm


Société

War
Brian D. Orend
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/orend.htm

11 septembre : comment se construisent la haine et la terreur comme
systèmes
Pierre Blouin
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/11septembre.htm


Bibliothéconomie

L'impact des accords économiques internationaux sur le droit d'auteur et
sur les politiques culturelles
George Azzaria
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/azzaria.htm

The Perception of Image and Status in the Library Profession
Deirdre Dupré
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/dupre.htm

(Reproduction de) Le livre du Bibliophile.- Deuxième édition.- Paris : A.
Lemerre, 1874.- 49 p. ; 16 cm.
Alphonse Lemerre
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/lemerre.htm

Petite perle historique
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/perle.htm


Théorie sociale

La « nouvelle économie », abordée a partir d'une analyse de la productivité
dans l'économie
Luc Bonneville
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/bonneville.htm

La confiscation de l'universel : L'Occident et les autres, de Sophie Bessis
Mona Chollet
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/chollet.htm

L'université et ses cinq lièvres
Raymond Joly
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/joly.htm


Comptes rendus

Pierre Paquet, Oublier la révolution tranquille,
Pierre Blouin
http://pages.globetrotter.net/charro/HERMES8/paquet.htm


©HERMÈS : revue critique et Roger Charland
ISSN- 1481-0301
Créée le vendredi 18 août 2000
À jour le lundi 20 mai 2002
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4. Joy of Censorship Update

Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 12:16:03 -0500
From: Chris Dodge <dodge[at]utne.com>
To: Rory Litwin <rlitwin[at]earthlink.net>

Rory, hello.

The Joy of Censorship Update is a newsletter distributed free to "library
professionals and other interested people every now and then by Joe Raiola,
Senior editor of MAD Magazine... To add your name to the subscription list,
send a letter on your official library or business stationary [sic] to:

Censorship Update, P.O. Box 64, High Falls, NY 12440."

I've just received a copy of Spring/Summer 2002 (#9).

Be well,

Chris

Chris Dodge, Librarian 

Utne Reader, LENS Publishing Co.        Phone:  (612) 338-5040  ext. 342
1624 Harmon Place, Suite 330            FAX:    (612) 338-6043
Minneapolis, MN  55403  USA             E-mail: dodge[at]utne.com

Utne Reader Online: http://www.utne.com
Utne Reader Web Watch: http://www.utne.com/webwatch

Street Librarian: http://www.bigfoot.com/~streetlibrarian

"Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their
jambs!" --Walt Whitman
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5. ALA Council Report to SRRT, June 25, 2002

Al Kagan, SRRT Councilor

The ALA Council was consumed with establishing the foundational documents
for the new ALA Allied Professional Association (APA) at the June 2002
Annual Meeting. As most of you know, this new legal entity is a 501(c)6
organization set up to do things that ALA supposedly can not do under its
tax status, known as 501(c)3. The two initial programs of the ALA APA are
going to be on post MLS certification courses and a salary and pay equity
initiative spearheaded by President Mitch Freedman. According to a
resolution passed at the Midwinter meeting, the Transition Team was
supposed to bring an operating plan with budget to the Council for
approval before any further action was taken. Instead of doing that, we
arrived to find that the Transition documents were sent to Council only
for informational purposes, and that the Council was expected to adjourn
and reconstitute itself as the ALA APA Council to discuss and approve the
documents. There was massive opposition to this seemingly illegal process
from people of all ideological perspectives. Much time was taken up to
sort this out. The Transition Team chaired by Nancy Kranich finally
relented and the ALA Council finally did debate the documents. The ALA
APA Council never did meet, and so these documents are still not in
effect. We can assume that adoption will take place at the Midwinter
meeting. There is a wide range of opinion on the SRRT Action Council and
among other progressive Councilors about this new 501(c)6 organization,
from strong support to complete rejection. On the one hand, people want
to support the salaries initiative and Mitch Freedman. On the other hand,
people are unhappy both with procedures and the goals of the certification
project. The Progressive Council Caucus has some specific recommendations
to make the proposed bylaws more democratic.

There were two major SRRT resolutions that made their way through the ALA
structure at this meeting. The first was on Protecting the Interests of
America's Libraries under the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS), and the second was on the Destruction of Palestinian Libraries,
Archives, and Other Cultural Resources. Monika Antonelli took the lead on
GATS with help from our Canadian ally Fiona Hunt, and Tom Twiss took the
lead on the Palestinian resolution. Monika, Fiona and Tom deserve our
appreciation. Our GATS resolution was combined with an ALA Washington
Office resolution with active approval of the ALA International Relations
Committee (IRC). This excellent resolution was presented in the Committee
on Legislation report and passed Council by consent. This result can be
attributed to our long advocacy of the issue and engagement with
appropriate ALA bodies over a number of years. SRRT had a second
resolution on GATS, but the Council adjourned before getting to it. The
Resolution on Hiring Expert Counsel Specializing in International Trade
Law to Study the Impact of GATS on Public Sector and Non-Profit Libraries
will come before Council at Midwinter 2003.

The Palestinian resolution was another matter. We discussed it at the
Membership Meeting but of course the meeting lacked a quorum. A weak
resolution was included in the IRC report to Council and was passed after
debate and amendment. Although our text was heartily endorsed by the IRC
Subcommittee on the Near East and South Asia, the full IRC watered it down
considerably. All mention of Israel and direct ALA assistance was
removed. The resolution asks IFLA to study the situation and establish a
mechanism for action. Considering the disastrous 2000 IFLA meeting in
Jerusalem, this seems problematical at best. (See my 2000 IFLA report in
the SRRT Newsletter for more background.) Furthermore, Nancy John, the
IRC chair asked Council to delete the entire distribution list from the
resolution so that the IRC could send it out or not to whomever it wished.
In my discussion with her, she argued that it was against IRC policy to
send resolutions to government officials, and that they could send it only
to library organizations. However there is much precedent for sending
resolutions to government officials. I assume that SRRT will send both
our own strong resolution and the weak Council resolution to the original
distribution list. It is quite possible that this will be seen as a
serious infringement of ALA's executive policy on "Speaking with One
Voice," and SRRT may again be called on the carpet. It seems to me that
the situation in Israel/Palestine will continue to deteriorate and that we
may need to come back with a further resolution for next meeting.
I was finally able to read our Statement of Concern on the Use of Flags in
Libraries' Public Areas before the Council just at the end of the last
meeting. Our supporters clapped. The SRRT resolution on Intellectual
Freedom and the Use of Torture in War or Peace was also left over from the
Midwinter meeting. It was originally submitted by Mark Rosenzweig to the
Action Council, and I agreed when Mark asked me to withdraw it in the
interests of getting our other initiatives accomplished. Our resolution on
Health Insurance Benefits for ALA Members has been in the hands of the ALA
Membership Committee. That Committee created a Health Insurance Benefits
Task Force to gather information and report back to Council at the
Midwinter meeting.

Two other resolutions with SRRT support were passed by consent at the ALA
Council: Call to Action In Support of State Library Agencies and a
resolution to create a Rural Libraries Task Force. The first especially
addresses the elimination of the Minnesota agency. The second will
identify and study the issues and challenges confronting rural school,
tribal and public libraries, and make recommendations for possible
solutions. Council also passed by consent an Interpretation of the
Library Bill of Rights on Privacy and a Resolution in Recognition and
Support of Equal Pay Day.

Following up on our continued efforts to reinstate ALA Membership Meetings
with an achievable quorum, last year I was appointed to a Special
Presidential Task Force on the Membership Meeting Quorum. The Council
adopted the compromise option presented in the Task Force's report. If
approved by a change in the bylaws by mail ballot, the new quorum will be
one-half of one percent of the number of personal members, or about 300
people. The proposal also includes eliminating the theoretical and
probably never used provision that Membership Meetings could set aside
Council actions by a three-fourths vote. Although it may still not be
easy to get 300 people, it will be much easier than getting the 600
currently required. I advocated that we go back to the old quorum of 200
that worked so well, but only one-third of the Task Force agreed with that
position. Another Special Presidential Task Force on Membership Meetings
looked at all the other issues around the Meetings except the quorum.
That Committee recommended and Council passed a resolution to create a
standing Committee on Membership Meetings in order to facilitate the
process.

The Council passed several other important resolutions introduced in the
Committee on Legislation Report. These included resolutions on access to
Sensitive but Classified Government Information, support for the public's
right to know through the Presidential Records Act Amendment of 2002, and
reaffirmation of the government's responsibility to provide access to
information through the Superintendent of Documents and through
Information Quality Guidelines. As we could have predicted, the Council
failed its responsibility to the profession by rejecting a resolution on
Maintaining the Words "Library" or "Library Science" in the titles of
programs accredited by ALA.

I would be happy to respond to questions about any of these actions.


--

Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan[at]uiuc.edu
________________________________________________________________________top


6. SHY LIBRARIAN

Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 21:09:16 -0400
From: "SHY LIBRARIAN magazine" <publisher[at]shylibrarian.com>
To: <rory[at]libr.org>

Rory: Would you be so kind as to mention in Juice that ad-free THE SHY
LIBRARIAN, SUMMER 2002 edition is now available. The Declaration of the
Niceness of Librarians in on p. 26 of the print issue, FYI. Thanks so much!
Joe Cadieux, publisher[at]shylibrarian.com

--------------------------
The Summer 2002 issue of THE SHY LIBRARIAN (www.shylibrarian.com) is now
out. SHY is a quarterly, ad-free, print magazine with a focus on library
programming, public relations, and marketing. The Summer issue features:

The Last Unicorn? Library Outreach Where You Might Not Expect It
By Kimberley Barker, Outreach Librarian & Asst. Professor, Georgia College &
State University, Ina Dillard Russell Library.

Getting the Bugs Out: Insuring Safe and Successful Library Programs
By Brett W. Lear, Library Manager, Jefferson County Public Library,
Lakewood, Colorado.

It's Cool Having Teens Work in the Library... It's Cold When They're Not Paid
By Kurstin Finch Gnehm, Program Officer, Urban Libraries Council, Manager of
the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds-supported "Public Libraries as Partners
for Youth Development" initiative.

Dear Biblia: Library Advice Column
"Dear Biblia" is Amanda Credaro, who is also known at the Warrior Librarian
[ Full Text Available:
www.shylibrarian.com/archives/Summer2002/dearbiblia02sum.htm ]

Standing Ovations and Rave Reviews: Tulsa's Approach to Staff Recognition
By Barry Hensley, Tulsa City-County Library System, Chair, Library Employee
Recognition Committee, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
[ Full Text Available:
www.shylibrarian.com/archives/Summer2002/tulsa2002summer.htm ]

Custom Or Service: What They Want Versus What We're Giving
By Peter Lisker, Interim Management Person (IMP), Department of Extension
Services, Buffalo & Erie County (NY) Public Library.

There Are So Many Books... So Little Time
Opinion Column by Gerry Molyneaux, Media Librarian & Library Book Discussion
Leader, West Hartford Public Library, Connecticut.

Writing a Weekly Library Newspaper Column
Jonathan Sabin, Information Coordinator, Manatee County Public Library
System, Bradenton, Florida.

A New Frontier for an Academic Library
By Martha Bace, Assistant Professor for Monographic Cataloging at the
University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Editor's Column: Effectively Handling Library Communications in a Crisis
By Marcia Trotta, Director, Meriden Public Library, Meriden, Connecticut

Just What Would Sallie Askew Do?
By Lisa Bartle, Reference librarian at the California State University, San
Bernardino.
[ Full Text Available:
www.shylibrarian.com/archives/Summer2002/askew02sum.htm ]

The Mobile Library
A Short Story by Liz Palmer
QUOTE: After the children left, Chloe looked at her messy van. "Here's a job
I've been looking forward to - tidying up." Chloe kissed Trevor's felt mouth
with the mouth of the Nutsy costume. "Thank you - for everything."

This issue of THE SHY LIBRARIAN also includes over 80 reviews
www.shylibrarian.com/books/summer2002/reviews.htm of new books for children
and teens, as well as reviews of professional books for librarians and
teachers. SHY reviews are written by librarians and teachers in the United
States of America.

To contribute to THE SHY LIBRARIAN, please send an email to:
publisher[at]shylibrarian.com

THE SHY LIBRARIAN Magazine
67 Van Buren Avenue
West Hartford, CT 06107 USA
860-521-4182
www.shylibrarian.com
________________________________________________________________________top


7. African Libraries Listserve active again

Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 14:41:26 +0200
From: "Aflib-l of NLSA" <Aflib-l.of.NLSA[at]nlsa.ac.za>
To: "<\" Biju K> Abraham\""<bijukabraham[at]hotmail.com>
<ifla-l[at]infoserv.inist.fr>, <LISTSERV[at]JISCMAIL.AC.UK>,
<hilda[at]liasa.org.za>, <sABINEWS[at]SABINET.CO.ZA>

Aplogies for cross-postings - the message is being sent to a number of
lists.

The National Library of South Africa announces with pleasure that the
African Libraries Listserve (Aflib-L) has now been reactivated. It was
temporarily discontinued while a new e-mail system was being
implemented.

If you are already an Aflib-L subscriber, you will have received the
earlier announcement that was sent out to list members only. If you are
not yet a subscriber, you are warmly invited to subscribe. Information
about the list is given below.

Warm regards
Hester van der Walt
AFLIB-L Administrator

WHAT IS AFLIB-L?

The African Libraries Listserve is a forum for African libraries and
their colleagues who seek to overcome the professional isolation which
presents one of the barriers to library development in Africa.

AFLIB-L is an open, lightly moderated discussion list. Its aim is to
encourage contact between and communication among professionals on the
continent. Let us break down the barriers of isolation through the
exchange of ideas. It is administered by the National Library of South
Africa, and supported by the Africa Section of the International
Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and the Standing Conference of
African National and University Libraries - East Central and Southern
Africa (SCANUL-ECS).

It is open not only to members of IFLA and SCANUL-ECS, but to all
libraries and information workers (including documentalists, archivists
and information managers), teachers of librarianship and information
work, researchers in library and information science, and others with an
interest in librarianship and information work who are working in Africa
or have a strong interest in Africa.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE:

HOW TO SEND MESSAGES:

LIST NETIQUETTE

________________________________________________________________________top


8. From the weblogs (and elsewhere)

TWISTED LOGIC FAILS TO ELIMINATE SAD FACT THAT DIGITAL DIVIDE EXISTS
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2002/06/24/focus5.html
(From the Benton Foundation's "Communication Related Headlines")

ALA: FBI in Your Library
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/fbiinyourlibrary.html
(From Don Wood)

Nat Hentoff | The Sons and Daughters of Liberty, 'All of Us
Are in Danger'
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/06.26A.hentoff.liberty.htm
(From Kathleen de la Pena McCook)

Library, Librarian, and Librarianship Quotes
http://www.sis.buffalo.edu/faculty/ellison/quotes/libquotesac.html
(From Don Wood)

The Librarian's Dilemma - New York Times, 06/20/02
(About filtering)
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/20/technology/circuits/20FILT.html
(Center for Arts and Culture Update)

Public Protests NPR Link Policy - Wired, 06/20/02
(About deep linking prohibitions)
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,53355,00.html
(Center for Arts and Culture Update)

Harry Potter Released Unprotected -- New Scientist, 06/02/02
(About copy protection and DVDs)
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992404
(Center for Arts and Culture Update)

High Court to Consider Net Filters - New York Times (AP) 06/20/02
(Supreme Court will hear appeal...)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Internet-Filtering.html
(Center for Arts and Culture Update)

...but Presses Must Stress Ideas, Not Markets
- Chronicle of Higher Education, 06/28/02
(About University Presses and University Libraries)
http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i42/42b00901.htm
(Center for Arts and Culture Update)

Free Expression Policy Project (FEPP): A Think Tank on Artistic and
Intellectual Freedom
http://www.fepproject.org/
(Librarians' Index to the Internet)

Free Expression Network (FEN)
http://www.freeexpression.org/
(Librarians' Index to the Internet)

Federal Appeals Court Rules Pledge of Allegiance Unconstitutional
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49515-2002Jun26.html
(Chuck Munson)

Librarian shortage blamed on low pay
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/06/18/national/main512573.shtml
(Mark Hudson)

Ladies first Pioneering erotica writers club still at it after 26 years
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/06/23/LV187.DTL
(Tricia Nevarez Soto)

Kartoo
http://www.kartoo.com
Flash-based graphical search engine results display thing
(Jim Dwyer)

"Librarians are the Saviors of the Internet"
About Open Source
http://newsforge.com/newsforge/02/06/17/1514234.shtml?tid=11
(Newbreed)

Stealth Librarian
(A forum for complaining about your employer)
http://www.geocities.com/stealthlibrarian/StealthLibrarian.htm
(Newbreed)

Why Boys Don't Read
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36740-2002May30.html
(Librarian.net)

http://GuysRead.com
(Librarian.net)

Disney Corp v. Small Town Library over "trademark infringement"
http://www.news-journalonline.com/2002/Jun/22/NOTE1.htm

________________________________________________________________________top


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