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That's interesting and new to me, as I'm not American. Does the American government track or prosecute people for their reading habits in libraries? Is it to be

That's interesting and new to me, as I'm not American. Does the American government track or prosecute people for their reading habits in libraries? Is it to be expected then that librarians are aligned to the political left?

kaybe 8y ago
Since 2001 (at least) the law enforcement is supposed to have access to library records. The legal basis keeps changing, though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act
- the-red-herring 8y ago
  Just stock up on some "Now-And-Laters" and read there all day, Ayn Rand.
detaro 8y ago
It could start at some point if detailed records exist. Libraries operate long-term, political climate changes. And of course other actors could be interested in records too. I don't think you can claim someone on the political right would by default not want to protect readers.
tomjen3 8y ago
You wouldn't, in general, be able to ban books in the US, but if it was possible to profile people based on their library records, say somebody read Das Capital, The Anarchist Cookbook and a few similar books like that and you are the police searching for an anarchist bomber?
- the-red-herring 8y ago
  TomJen, where in the States do you live?
kasey_junk 8y ago
As with all professions you'll find individual librarians that have political positions all over the board. The biggest professional organization for them in the USA (the ALA) is not officially politically aligned, but some of their core positions, notably privacy, intellectual freedom and anti-censorship have of late have come to be seen as politically left and in the States especially more aligned with the Democratic party. Demographically librarians in the United States do lean liberal but I don't know that they do at any higher rates than other educated people. Finally, this is not just an American thing. The IFLA has very similar positions on privacy, intellectual freedom and censorship and monitors those positions around their world.
skookumchuck 8y ago
It isn't a left/right thing. There was a case a while back where a woman poisoned her husband. The police found her thumbprint on a book on poisons in the library. I don't think they used library records, they just checked the book itself. I also recall that there was considerable pushback from the librarians when the government demanded they hand over all borrower records. Next time I go to the library I'll ask what the current state of this is. I hope their practice is to purge records when you return a book.

kaybe 8y ago

Since 2001 (at least) the law enforcement is supposed to have access to library records. The legal basis keeps changing, though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act

the-red-herring 8y ago
Just stock up on some "Now-And-Laters" and read there all day, Ayn Rand.

detaro 8y ago

It could start at some point if detailed records exist. Libraries operate long-term, political climate changes. And of course other actors could be interested in records too. I don't think you can claim someone on the political right would by default not want to protect readers.

tomjen3 8y ago

You wouldn't, in general, be able to ban books in the US, but if it was possible to profile people based on their library records, say somebody read Das Capital, The Anarchist Cookbook and a few similar books like that and you are the police searching for an anarchist bomber?

the-red-herring 8y ago
TomJen, where in the States do you live?

kasey_junk 8y ago

As with all professions you'll find individual librarians that have political positions all over the board. The biggest professional organization for them in the USA (the ALA) is not officially politically aligned, but some of their core positions, notably privacy, intellectual freedom and anti-censorship have of late have come to be seen as politically left and in the States especially more aligned with the Democratic party. Demographically librarians in the United States do lean liberal but I don't know that they do at any higher rates than other educated people. Finally, this is not just an American thing. The IFLA has very similar positions on privacy, intellectual freedom and censorship and monitors those positions around their world.

skookumchuck 8y ago

It isn't a left/right thing. There was a case a while back where a woman poisoned her husband. The police found her thumbprint on a book on poisons in the library. I don't think they used library records, they just checked the book itself. I also recall that there was considerable pushback from the librarians when the government demanded they hand over all borrower records. Next time I go to the library I'll ask what the current state of this is. I hope their practice is to purge records when you return a book.