Librarians at the Gates

[ProSense]

Came across this article at the DCCC blog

article | posted August 22, 2006 (web only)

Librarians at the Gates

Joseph Huff-Hannon

Snip...

In the past few years this dedication has become more important than ever. With the federal government ever more intent on spying on its own citizens, and on classifying, concealing and manipulating larger swaths of information and intelligence, librarians and library custodians are on the front lines protecting freedom of inquiry and our right to privacy. And where right-wing groups, both local and national, have campaigned for censorship, librarians have also stepped up to the plate to defend minority points of view in their collections. Anecdotes there are aplenty, too many to document here. The following are but a few profiles of courageous individuals in the field who exemplify the democratic values and the independent spirit of the profession.

Snip...

An Atypical Archive

The word "archive" is likely to conjure images of a staid collection of documents, books or historical memorabilia--safely stored away for posterity's sake. Not so with the National Security Archive, an independent nongovernmental research institute and library located at George Washington University, whose raison d'etre is the un-archiving of documents the federal government might prefer never saw the light of day.

"We have a unique combination of functions," says Thomas Blanton, director of the archive since 1992. "We are a library of materials, a center for investigative journalism, a research institute, a public-interest law firm and a publisher. We are also the single largest submitter of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests to the CIA and the State Department."

Since its founding in 1986, the archive has won numerous journalistic awards and has been responsible for unearthing some of the most damning and illuminating secret government documents pertaining to US foreign policy; Kissinger in China, Iran/contra, CIA cooperation with military governments in Latin America and the more recently crafted Justice Department memos on interrogation techniques. "Understandably, this makes them uncomfortable," says Blanton. "We are a challenge to their information monopoly. Our mission is at odds with their mission--which is to keep those files closed."

Thus the recent lawsuit National Security Archive v. Central Intelligence Agency, filed by the archive on June 14 in Washington, DC, District Court. In October 2005, the CIA abruptly adopted the authority, despite judicial precedent to the contrary, to decide what constituted "news" or not, so that "non-newsworthy" FOIA requests could be tied to potentially large and prohibitive fees for the search and review time required to unearth the requested documents. "We believe we are the real target of this policy shift because we submit the majority of requests," Blandon says. "Given the timing--when the intelligence community is under serious scrutiny about its activities--this appears to be an effort to shut down the public debate. But it is really shortsighted. They really don't have a leg to stand on."

more...

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060828/librarians/2

[skooooo]

1. EPA BEGINS CLOSING LIBRARIES

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=12916

End of Public Access to Technical Holdings as Original Collections Shuttered.

Washington, DC — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving ahead this summer to shut down libraries, end public access to research materials and box up unique collections on the assumption that Congress will not reverse President Bush’s proposed budget reductions, according to agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). At the same time, EPA’s own scientists are stepping up protests against closures on the grounds that it will make their work more difficult by impeding research, enforcement and emergency response capabilities.

In an August 15, 2006 document entitled “EPA FY 2007 Library Plan,” agency management indicates that it will begin immediately implementing President Bush’s proposed budget cuts for the next fiscal year, which begins in October, without waiting for Congress to act. The memo describes what EPA terms “deaccessioning procedures” (defined as “the removal of library materials from the physical collection”) for its network of 26 technical libraries. Under the plan —

[havocmom]

2. And Congress passes a bill that limits internet access from libraries

in rural communities.

Many rural libraries managed to avoid a lot of restrictive filters (and save money) by combining internet access for public computer stations with phone service.

Under the banner of 'Protect children from internet predators' the GOP Congress has nixed much internet freedom.

Chat rooms will be out, but so will many public news forums. It is gonna be a mess. But the GOP sees that media ownership is not stopping the truth from getting out to the heartland. They have to keep poll numbers close enough to make their stole elections at least somewhat plausible. They are losing the middle and they have to stop the free flow of info to rural communities.

Will post more about it this evening.

Libraries are being attacked all over America. Dr. Franklin must be spinning in his grave. Newspapers gone, libraries about to follow....

Then, America falls.

[saltpoint]

6. I don't believe in real ghosts. But I'd be happy to be proved wrong

and have the ghost of Ben Franklin or Thomas Jefferson rise from the ground and kick the living shit out of anyone who tries to censor or close a library.

[nealhughes]

3. There is a war against access, funding and content at US libraries right

now. For once, it is truly "exciting" to be a librarian again. The profession is undergoing the largest and most important changes/proposed changes that it has faced since the card catalogue became quaint. We are now political animals, and when cornered, we shall ditch our Birkenstocks and don our Doc Martens, teeth bared and glasses strapped tightly on our faces to do battle with the county, the university, the city, and the feds. We shall use our blogs and our articles and we are a vicious pack ready for battle, be it over "Heather Has 2 Mommies" or closing the EPA regional libraries or those who claim we abet terrorists. Watch out! We are armed with awls for repairing hard bound books, pens and the Anarchist Cookbook! But if you need a copy of an "American Spectator" article or the Turner Diaries, I'd be glad to ILL that for you, you should get it within the week...

[ProSense]

4. Cool post! Welcome! n/t

[benny05]

5. Then There is the Issue of Net Discrimination

Which Hollywood is in bed with the teleco's on that one. Imagine that if we don't have net neutrality, an ISP can bury sites it doesn't like or those who cannot pay at this time. That's saying that if someone wanted to access the DU, either from a library or home, and they have to spend so much time trying to find it and access it...well, you get the pic.