Library Wouldn't Help Police Identify Woman Pulled From River -- Legislation Needs Amending

NewsNet5 WEWS Cleveland, OH ^ | Feb. 4, 2007 | Unknown

[plan2succeed.org]

LANCASTER, Ohio — Police tried to identify a woman they pulled from an icy river by checking on her library card, but the library would not cooperate, citing a policy set by its board.

The woman, who was treated for unknown injuries, was carrying her library card on a key ring but had no other identification when a passer-by found her in the Hocking River on Thursday night, police said.

So a dispatcher, then an officer called the Fairfield County District Library and were told the library could not release the information without a court order. The woman later was identified as Sheila Springer, 51, by someone at the local hospital where she was taken.

The woman was later taken to Grant Medical Center in Columbus, where she would not allow information to be released on Friday. The hospital said Saturday they had no information on Springer. There was no telephone listing for her. Police did not know how she got in the river.

The library's board set the policy of withholding information about cardholders, library Director Marilyn Steiner said Saturday.

However, Steiner said that after being contacted about the police request, she told her staff they could release the information if they were sure the caller was a law enforcement officer and it was "a matter of life or death." Steiner said the library was prepared to release the woman's identity about 10 minutes after the first call by police, but was told it was no longer necessary.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. I CLAIM EXCEPTION UNDER COPYRIGHT FAIR USE PROVISIONS.

[plan2succeed.org]

You said, "The policies of the ALA might seem a bit hard core, but they're in place to keep private records private. In this day and age that's a laudable goal, and one that I support."

I spoke with former NYC Police Commish Bernard Kerik about this, about these types of library polices. He told me to tell the ALA librarians to, and I'm quoting now, "Knock it off!"

Knock it off! The de facto head of the ALA expressed regret that a Florida librarian violated a similar law in Florida and reported a 9-11 terrorist to the FBI. This is beyond the pale of even being an American. The ALA regrets a librarian turned in a terrorist to the FBI? Sad but true.

Use your head, while you still have it.

[Tamar1973]

My library card doesn't have my name on it.

[plan2succeed.org]

You said, "Did you even read the policy you quoted in your post? It covers legitimate requests by law enforcement officers in exigent circumstances regarding public safety... without a court order. It's right there in the policy you quoted, which is why I have no problem with the policy."

I read it, but since it seems not to have applied in this case, so I assumed it did not apply. Had it applied we never would have heard of this. I think that's a reasonable assumption on my part.

[plan2succeed.org]

Right, but since they didn't apply that provision, it must have not applied, and what Steiner did must have been different than that provision.

If that provision means the librarians should have provided the information in the first instance, I smell huge lawsuit.

[Tamar1973]

What if this woman had a condition that needed immediate attention?

How would the library know that?! I don't remember the library asking me if I have asthma or diabetes or if I was hard of hearing?! She should have been wearing a medic alert bracelet if she had some serious issue like that.

Sometimes we pay a price to keep our privacy.

[saquin]

I read it, but since it seems not to have applied in this case, so I assumed it did not apply.

You're not making sense. Why do you think it didn't apply? It did apply and the head librarian, the one in charge who makes these kinds of determinations, applied it. It took 10 minutes to determine that this was a legitimate law enforcement request and that it involved public safety in exigent circumstances. When that was determined to be the case, that part of the policy was applied. It's not the library's fault that their services were no longer needed after 10 minutes.

Had it applied we never would have heard of this. I think that's a reasonable assumption on my part.

That's not a reasonable assumption at all.

[sure_fine]

anyone can go to a library to get information.. except police or fbi

[Tinian]

We're talking about phone numbers and addresses, the kind of identifying information libraries have about patrons and that the police were presumably requesting.

Why in hell would a hospital need someone's phone number to determine if they had a medical condition?

That's quite a presumption, Ben Richards!

[muawiyah]

So, the woman was pulled out of the crick, and for all anyone knows she may have driven the family car with her 5 kids in after a fenderbender with an 18 wheeler.

Knowing who she was would give the cops an opportunity to find others who knew her to see if any others were at risk of death, dismemberment or injury.

The Librarians in this case were a tad more than cold.

Anyone know that woman's lawyer? There's a heck of a suit in this one.

[muawiyah]

Private Information?

Your name is not "private" ~ bet you didn't realize that did you.

[muawiyah]

The cops wanted her name ~ the library knew it.

That is NOT any sort of confidential information.

[WhiteGuy]

Radical agenda of the American Library Association...............

Hardly radical.

[muawiyah]

"Ve ver ohnlee followink orders"

[GovernmentShrinker]

I really don't see a problem here. Libraries are trying to protect patrons from government intrusion by having policies of not giving out information about library users. This was certainly not a "life or death" situation. The woman was already in the hands of medical professionals by the time police asked the library to ID her. She was going to get the urgent medical care she needed to save her life regardless of her identity. What purpose would be served by the library divulging her ID to authorities? As long as a library is willing to divulge information with a court order, these policies aren't likely to hinder investigations into possible terrorist or other serious criminal activities.

[GovernmentShrinker]

The woman had already been pulled out of the water (that's how police happened ot be in possession of her library card)and delivered to emergency medical professionals by the time police were asking the library for ID info. Nobody is going to wait for an ID before giving treatment in a life-threatening situation.

[muawiyah]

"Sometimes we pay a price to keep our privacy.

Hunh? A policy that could very well result in someone's death, dismemberment or other injury is hardly justified.

Looking back on the Shiavo case, I think we can all agree that letting judges get away with judicial murder through service of process is a bad enough situation without allow librarians to kill off their share.

We have to draw the line somewhere, and I think almost everyone would agree we are all better off if librarians do not act as public executioners.

[plan2succeed.org]

You said, "You're not making sense. Why do you think it didn't apply? It did apply and the head librarian, the one in charge who makes these kinds of determinations, applied it. It took 10 minutes to determine that this was a legitimate law enforcement request and that it involved public safety in exigent circumstances. When that was determined to be the case, that part of the policy was applied. It's not the library's fault that their services were no longer needed after 10 minutes."

I've been thinking about this. It seems to have been written policy to help the police, yet that is not how it was applied, until the head librarian got involved. So, was the purpose of including that provision just to make people feel good while the employees are trained just to gave a blanket refusal to the police? I'm not going to go into it here but the ALA position seems to be talk a good game then do the opposite. Also, news reports are starting to uncover the crimes occurring in libraries that are not being reported to the police. I have more to think about this. Perhaps I'll get more directly involved and make an investigation.

[OldFriend]

Threats were emailed to Brandeis University. FBI traced the call to a library in Ithaca. When the FBI arrived, the libarians refused to allow them to nab the terrorist. They insisted they needed a search warrant first.

Afterwards the librarian said it was the finest hour of her life. It took hours for the FBI to get the warrant.

Libraries are the terrorists best friends.

[plan2succeed.org]

You said, "Radical agenda of the American Library Association............... Hardly radical."

This article and associated thread does not fully cover that issue, nor is it going to, although there is the de facto leader of the ALA wishing the Florida librarian did not turn in the 9/11 terrorist to the FBI. I'd say that's radical. Actually , it may be worse.

[plan2succeed.org]

Your questions are essentially answered in my previous responses.