Want to know if you're the victim of identity theft or find out why you got turned down for that car loan? Then volunteer or go to work at the Fayetteville Public Library, and they'll run a free Criminal Background Check on you. The catch is, they won't tell you in advance or share a copy of the report after the fact, at least not with you.
Librarians across the nation have courageously defended the right to read and stood up to the FBI's snooping into the borrowing records of patrons, but Fayetteville is different. The library director defended the secret criminal background checks by saying, in effect, that it was necessary to ignore the constitution to protect the children against possible harm. That's the same argument that the book banners use.
Even more disingenuous was the Director's claim that "Anybody with a badge is someone people would trust, and that’s why we need to do this.” Right. Where have you been for the last seven years in Bush's America?
Several volunteers have resigned in protest of the criminal checks that were done on the staff without their knowledge or consent and without a board policy authorizing the investigations. Hooray for citizens who will stand up for fundamental principles.
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