Well, you see, nobody who wrote the Patriot Act seems to have actually ASKED the librarians if something could be done....

Yeah, we COULD keep a list of everything you've read, but who would pay for the trouble? Another "unfunded mandate" from Washington, requiring local agencies to spend money that they could better spend in some other way, perhaps on building maintenance or buying children's materials?

There are subversive materials in libraries, always has been: "The Communist Manifesto", "The Anarchist's Cookbook" and other comes to mind. I should also mention "The Federalist Papers", "The Constitution of The United States," "The Magna Carta," and one or two others as well. And, of course, "The Bible," "The Quran", "The Tao Tchin" and so on.

Know what the most banned book in history is? The Bible.

Your Public Library: hotbed of subversion, garden of revolution, people's university, cradle of an informed citizenry. It's not just for story hour anymore! (then again, it never was).