One of the most popular panels at NEBA's gathering, drawing close to 90 attendees, was "Harry Potter and 9/11: Current Challenges to First Amendment Rights," which was sponsored by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. Moderated by ABFFE president Chris Finan, it featured authors Judy Blume (Double Fudge, Penguin Putnam) and Wendy Kaminer (Free for All, Beacon Press), who spoke on section 215 of the USA Patriot Act that allows the FBI to search bookstore and library records and makes it illegal to reveal that a search has occurred.
Kaminer advised, "It's important for libraries and bookstores to at least post signs that their privacy rights are not intact." She and Finan also suggested that booksellers and libraries contact their lawyers immediately if they are approached by the FBI, even though the wording of the law makes it unclear whether or not they will be allowed to do so. During the q&a afterward, Carole Horne of Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Mass., asked whether bookstores should continue to maintain customer files. "Five years ago, we went to all these seminars about one-to-one marketing," Horne said. "If we keep that information, it can all be subpoenaed." This sparked a discussion on how customers would react to stores keeping sales information on their purchases that might not remain confidential.
ABFFE's Web site (www.abffe.org) has more information on the organization's recent efforts, including filing a request under the Freedom of Information Act to learn how many subpoenas have been issued to bookstores, libraries and newspapers under the USA Patriot Act.
