Here’s a new button that I and several of my library colleagues have recently received. And below is an excerpt from the ALA (American Library Association) description of the reasons for this button’s creation and design.

Inspiration for the button’s design came from documents obtained from the FBI by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The request revealed a series of e-mails in which FBI agents complained about the “radical, militant librarians” while criticizing the reluctance of FBI management to use the secret warrants authorized under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. The efforts of “radical militant librarians” arguing on behalf of their users’ right to read freely, without government interference or surveillance, helped to influence the Congress in its vote to extend its debate on the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act.