Surveillance in the Stacks: The FBI’s Library Awareness Program

As part of its Library Awareness Programme, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted numerous counterintelligence activities in libraries, including requesting confidential information on library users based solely on their nationality. Written by a librarian whose own institution was the target of such intrusions and who later helped to develop confidentiality legislation, this book documents and analyzes the FBI’s wide-ranging surveillance of libraries. Drawing on previously classified FBI reports, the book traces the recent history of federal library surveillance, documents the media and congressional response to the Library Awareness Programme and discusses the professional and legislative moves that have been taken to safeguard library confidentiality. The author also surveys the confrontation between the FBI and the library profession and relates the content of numerous disturbing FBI documents, including one that reveals an extended investigation of librarians who criticized the Bureau’s programme. This work is designed as an addition to the collections of both public and academic libraries, as well as a useful resources for courses in special libraries, library ethics and first amendment issues.