Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Christian Stalberg" <cpsr_rtp AT internet-lab.com>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        FOR INFORMATION:

1-9-04                                                             Annis Barbee

                                                                        Campus Box 7111

                                                                        North Carolina State University Libraries

                                                                        Raleigh, NC 27695-7111

                                                                        (919) 513-2046

 

 

USA Patriot Act Panel Discussion Set for February 10

 

The Wake County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the NCSU Libraries are cosponsoring a panel discussion on the USA Patriot Act (PL 107-56) on Tuesday, February 10, 2004. The event, entitled “The Freedom to Read: Does the Patriot Act Compromise Your Rights?,” will be held in the D. H. Hill Library Assembly Room (second floor, East Wing, in the Learning and Research Center for the Digital Age), from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The panel will be moderated by Clay Stalnaker, a Wake County ACLU board member and retired faculty member from NC State University. The panelists are Ross Holt (past president of the N.C. Library Association and head of reference at the Randolph County Public Library), Peggy Hoon (J.D., scholarly communication librarian, NCSU Libraries), Anne Klinefelter (J.D., associate director of the Law Library and clinical assistant professor of law, UNC–Chapel Hill), Tom Moore (director of Wake County Public Libraries), and Christian Stalberg (chair of RTP Chapter of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility).

The USA Patriot Act, passed rapidly at the end of October 2001 in response to the events of September 11, broadly expands law enforcement’s surveillance and investigative powers. The American Library Association believes that these expansions “increase the likelihood that the activities of library users, including their use of computers to browse the Web or access email, may be under government surveillance without their knowledge or consent.”

Panelists will look at key issues and give substantial background while focusing on the questions the USA Patriot Act raises for librarians, bookstore owners, computer professionals, and the concerned populace about privacy laws and the right of individuals in the U.S. to read freely. They will also discuss strategies that libraries have implemented for coping with the terms of the act.

The D. H. Hill Library is located on the NC State Brickyard, near the intersection of Hillsborough and Gardner streets, across from the Wachovia Bank building. It is wheelchair accessible. For additional information about the panel discussion, call (919) 513-2046 before 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.