Defenders of Patron Privacy; American Libraries, September 1, 2021

Sanhita SinhaRoy , American Libraries; Defenders of Patron Privacy

"When the FBI approached George Christian in 2005 with a national security letter (NSL) and lifetime gag order, the then–executive director of the Library Connection—a Connecticut library consortium—convened a meeting with the organization’s executive committee. The NSL would have forced them to turn over customer information without a judge’s order or a grand jury subpoena. They refused to comply and later came to be known as the Connecticut Four.

With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), they challenged the climate of surveillance and government overreach that followed the September 11 attacks, showing the nation that librarians would stand by the rights of patrons and civil liberties.

Here, the four share their memories of the experience and its resonance today with American Libraries.They are Christian, retired executive director of Library Connection; Barbara Bailey, director of Welles-Turner Memorial Library in Glastonbury, Connecticut; Peter Chase, retired director of Plainville (Conn.) Public Library; and Janet Nocek, director of Portland (Conn.) Library."