Monday, October 01, 2007

The New Revolutionaries

Mark my words, librarians will be on the front lines when the revolution comes. Don't believe me? In 2003 the NYT reported librarians went to federal court "to gain permission to identify themselves as the recipients of the secret subpoena, known as a national security letter, ordering them to turn over patron records and e-mail messages."
Lawyers for the group, the Library Connection of Windsor, Conn., argued that their client was eager to participate freely in the debate last year over the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. But federal prosecutors asserted that the Patriot Act required that the group's identity remain secret and that the government would suffer irreparable harm if any information about its investigations became known.
...
"We are obviously very much looking forward to the day where they can explain how it felt to be under threat of criminal prosecution for merely identifying themselves," said Ann Beeson, the civil liberties union's associate legal director. "The clients are happy that the fight over this gag is nearing its end."
Librarians challenged the Justice Dept. and won.

In Europe, librarians joined with The Electronic Frontier Foundation to demand fixes to vague copyright law that would potentially criminalize websites, internet service providers and librarians.

This group is organized and some of them are pissed. A healthy combination.

Anyway, we're adding a few new links that hit the spot:

Librarian
Information for Social Change Journal (ISC)
Nonsensical Ravings of Finely Tuned Insanity

Welcome!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is nothing new about librarians being revolutionaries. In fact you cannot call yourself a true librarian if you are not. We don't accept oppression and we are champions of social justice. In a world that is swinging to the right we are a loud part of the voice of reason. Never underestimate a librarian, don't fall for the stereotypes. Information is power.

Norma said...

Librarians are 223:1 liberal to conservative, and they control what's on the shelves which is why BBW is such a joke. The banning starts way earlier than the complaints. There is no swinging to the right; it all swings left.