By Tory Brecht

Bettendorf public library director Faye Clow faced what she called a
“terrible choice” recently when asked by the Quad-Cities chapter of the
Iowa Civil Liberties Union to put up warning signs near library
materials.

Specifically, the signs would warn about provisions of the USAPatriot
Act that would allow records of books and other materials borrowed by
patrons to be obtained by federal agents and forbidding librarians from
informing the borrowers if their records were being monitored.

“We have people lobbying on the national level against parts of the
Patriot Act,” [Clow] said, referring to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.

“I think people should be aware,” said Aaron Brinson, a 17-year-old
Pleasant Valley High School student. “They should know what they check
out can be looked at.”

…Bettendorf's Dawn McKinney, 40, thinks it's important to raise
awareness.  “People in general need to be made aware of how
much access the government has to their lives,” she said.  “It's a
little disturbing because I don't know who decides what is justifiable
cause to look at materials.”

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