Teleconference to Address How Anti-Terrorism Laws Affect Libraries

For Immediate Release
September 19, 2002

The American Association of Law Libraries and the other major library associations will co-sponsor a satellite teleconference about the implications of the USA PATRIOT Act and other anti-terrorism laws from noon to 3 p.m. EST on Dec. 11.

Titled "Safeguarding Our Patrons' Privacy: What Every Librarian Needs to Know
About the USA PATRIOT Act & Related Anti-Terrorism Measures," the teleconference will analyze how libraries and their governing institutions are affected by the recent anti-terrorism measures, including the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act), the attorney general's guidelines expanding the investigative powers of the FBI, and the Homeland Security Act.

Panelists will address the key legal issues and policy implications for libraries as well as the impact of legislative and regulatory proposals on the privacy and First Amendment rights of library users. They will also identify steps that institutions need to take to comply with proper search warrants, subpoenas and wiretap requests from law enforcement. The panelists for the teleconference are: Tracy Mitrano, policy adviser and director of computer law and policy at the Office of the Vice President at Cornell University; James Neal, vice president and university librarian for Columbia University libraries; Gary Strong, director of the Queens Borough Public Library; and Peter Swire, professor of law at Ohio State University.

The teleconference is sponsored by AALL, the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the Medical Library Association and the Special Libraries Association.

For more information about the teleconference, please visit http://www.arl.org/patriot/index.html. To register for the conference, please visit http://db.arl.org/patriot/default.html.