Investigators have long had the ability to seek out library records in tracking leads in criminal inquiries. In two of the most noted cases, investigators in the 1990s used library records to search for the Unabomber, who wrote detailed and unusual academic treatises in his string of bombings over almost two decades, and for New York's "Zodiac Killer," who had cited the writing of an obscure occult poet.
Government officials say that while they have no interest in using their expanded powers under the Patriot Act to monitor Americans' reading habits, they do not believe that libraries should be safe havens for terrorists. They point to several cases in which Sept. 11 hijackers and other terror suspects used library computers to send e-mail messages.
Perhaps the fiercest counterattack from the Bush administration on the issue came in 2003 from John Ashcroft, then the attorney general, who said in a speech in Washington that groups like the ALA had bought into "breathless reports and baseless hysteria" about the government's interest in libraries.
"Do we at the justice department really care what you are reading?" Ashcroft asked. "No."
Sheketoff acknowledged that critics of the study may accuse the group of having a stake in the outcome of the Patriot Act debate.
"Sure, we have a dog in this fight, but the other side has been mocking us for four years over our `baseless hysteria,' and saying we have no reason to be concerned," she said.
"Well, these findings say that we do have reason to be concerned," she said.
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