Activist organized others to protest the USA Patriot Act

When Trina Magi organized librarians to protest the threat the USA Patriot Act posed to the privacy of library patrons, she never thought it would result in a phone call from her congressman, a press conference and a bill proposed to Congress. She never expected attention from Playboy, either.

But Magi’s grass-roots efforts earned her not only the Vermont Library Association’s Sarah C. Hagar Award and Librarian of the Year from the New England Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries—they also landed her the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in Education.

She shares that award with bookshop owner Linda Ramsdell.

The two women rallied booksellers and librarians to fight Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which gives the FBI expanded access to records that could track Internet use. Magi, as a reference librarian at the University of Vermont and a member of the United Academics/AAUP/AFT, suspects that such access would be used to track patrons’ borrowed or purchased material, as well as the Web sites they visit.

“For me, these sections are a real violation of our Constitution and our Bill of Rights,” says Magi. “That’s the most important thing to fight for in a democracy.”

The law would allow retrieval of records without probable cause, and could target people who have nothing to do with the terrorist acts the government is trying to ferret out. “The Constitution is crafted so carefully to include checks and balances and basic rights,” Magi says. “I really believe the USA Patriot Act violates those rights.”

After an initial meeting with other concerned book-lovers, Magi used her position as immediate past president of the Vermont Library Association to begin organizing. Her group of concerned Vermonters wrote a letter to congressman Bernard Sanders, who eventually drafted the Freedom to Read Protection Act, currently under consideration in the U.S. House and Senate.

“We really hit on something,” says Magi. In addition to mounting concern over the Patriot Act, she says the credibility of librarians gave weight to their cause. “People assume librarians have done their homework, they have their facts together,” she says.

Magi encourages people to call their congressional representatives with concerns over Section 215. She suggests signing a petition at www.readerprivacy.org and investigating privacy policies at the local library. Even informal encouragement for librarians makes a difference, she says. Tell librarians you stand behind them and support privacy.