Libraries and bookstores around Eugene are preparing for the day that an FBI agent may show up and demand to see records and reading lists of their patrons. And in that event, owners will be powerless to stop them.
Under the U.S. Patriot Act, which was passed shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, FBI agents may seize the reading records of suspected terrorists after convincing a judge via affidavit that the bureau has reason to suspect terrorist activity. A gag order is then initiated that bars librarians from talking about the search.
The act also supersedes state laws passed to protect citizens from the release of these records.
Most University-area bookstores and libraries don’t keep records of what citizens have purchased, however, decreasing the chances that the FBI will stop in Eugene.
University Bookstore General Manager James Williams said the bookstore has not been approached by the bureau, and even if they did, the bookstore does not keep any record of student purchases.
“We would be very reticent to share information,” he said. “We feel privacy of people is fundamentally important to a college bookstore.”
Other campus booksellers not affiliated with the University may also escape the FBI’s expanded powers.
Smith Family Bookstore manager Nancy Smith said no records are kept of buyers, adding that keeping tabs on readers would require extensive hardware that large chains usually use.
Knight Library circulation supervisor Laura Willey said the current record system at the Knight Library could only show the FBI what books are currently checked out — not books borrowed in the past.
“As soon as items are checked in, your check-out record is essentially purged,” she said. “If you return materials late, they keep track for purposes of fines. (However), these records are disassociated from patron records.”
Willey added that library staff have been trained to never give out information about students who currently have books checked out, and to consult supervisors so University legal council can be sought before the search.
Collection development head Faye Chadwell said that even if the Knight Library did keep old records, they “wouldn’t give them up easily.”
“If records were asked for under the Patriot Act, we would have to comply,” she said. “But we would have legal council during the search to make sure it was done legally.” So far, the Eugene Public Library has also stayed clear of controversy.
Connie Bennett, library services director for the library, said the FBI has not yet approached the library administration to get reading records of suspected terrorists.
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