America's Most Dangerous Librarians

Meet the radical bookworms who fought the Patriot Act—and won.

Mother Jones takes a look at a group of librarians that refused to quietly turn over records to the FBI, requested using a National Security Letter (NSL), allowed under the U.S. Patriot Act.

To protect their patrons, the four librarians engaged the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York. They challenged the constitutionality of NSLs; they also wanted their gag order lifted so they could participate in the national debate over renewal of the Patriot Act. "People say very confidential things to our reference librarians," explains Chase. "They have medical issues, personal matters. What people are borrowing at a public library is nobody's business."

Read the full article from the September/October 2008 Issue of Mother Jones