Protect library privacy.

Byline: The Register-Guard

It's enough to make you think twice about going to the library to check out that new book you've been wanting to read on the history of Islam.

A new survey of U.S. libraries on the impact of the USA Patriot Act reveals that law enforcement officials have made at least 200 inquiries to libraries for information on reader records and other confidential library information.

That's a chilling number, especially since only a third of the 1,500 public libraries contacted responded to the survey. It's even more chilling when you consider that the Bush administration continues to insist that federal investigators have yet to use the anti-terror law to demand re- cords from libraries.

It's impossible to determine if the government is telling the truth when it says the law has never been used to search libraries. In its survey, the association was unable to inquire specifically about the anti-terror law because of secrecy provisions that make it a crime for librarians to reveal requests made under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

But the fact that libraries reported receiving at least 200 inquiries by law enforcement agencies strongly suggests that the government has been less than forthcoming about its use of Section 215. It also confirms that the House of Representatives was dead on target when it voted earlier this month to block federal agencies from prying into the private reading records of Americans.

The study surveyed 5,500 libraries and found there were 137 formal requests for information - 49 of them from federal investigators and the rest from state or local authorities. A total of 66 libraries said they had received informal law enforcement requests for information - more than a third from federal investigators.

Among the more alarming requests was one that FBI agents made to a library that is part of the Whatcom County system in northwest Washington state. After a reader notified the FBI about a handwritten note in the margin of an Osama bin Laden biography (the wording turned out to be a frequently cited quote from the al-Qaeda leader), the FBI requested a list of all people who had checked out the book since 2001.

After the library's lawyers rejected the request, FBI agents returned with a subpoena that the library fought and that the agency later withdrew.

Such flagrant and unwarranted intrusions into the private reading habits - and basic liberties - of Americans are bound to have a chilling effect. The survey found that nearly 40 percent of libraries responding said users had inquired about applications of the Patriot Act, and 5 percent said the law had changed their practices, including the handling of records and reviews of book acquisitions.

Americans remain well aware of the need to confront the threat of terrorism, but they are increasingly unwilling to cannibalize their fundamental rights in the process. Democrats and many Republicans in Congress appear determined to take a hard look at Section 215 and other troublesome provisions of the Patriot Act. The House bill to restrict the government's power to demand library records passed 238-187 and drew support from more 38 Republicans - despite President Bush's threat to veto any legislation that curtails the Patriot Act's powers.

Section 215 is just one of several parts of the Patriot Act that lawmakers should revoke or revise as they consider renewing those portions of the act that are set to expire at the end of this year. Others include Section 213, the "sneak and peek" provision that lets the government search private homes and indefinitely delay telling the owners about it.

President Bush has been traipsing across the country in recent weeks trying to convince Americans that the Patriot Act should be not only reauthorized in its entirety but also expanded to give the government even more sweeping powers. Congress should stand firm and protect American freedoms by rewriting, not reauthorizing, the USA Patriot Act.