Answer: NYC Radical Lending Library

First response:
I'm looking into your query. One thing you can do while I ask around is to check both LEO and CATNYP to see if your materials are already represented in the collections. Skip CATNYP if a non-lending library is unacceptable.

Are you open to a borough other than Manhattan? If so, also look at Brooklyn and Queens. (The Bronx and SI are in NYPL.)

To tell you the truth, while I think this is a GREAT idea, I don't have high hopes. The PLs in NY are full of bureacrats and overworked/underpaid librarians and support staff that are too oppressed to take on wonderful projects like this. The administrators are cautious and conservative about the collections, even if they think they're liberal on censorship and patron privacy.

Second response:
I've forwarded your query to a friend who used to be pretty high up at NYPL. I'll report back when I hear from her. You might also try the contact Brett forwarded. Sadly, I don't have high hopes, but a serious campaign COULD yield some results, I suppose. We can talk more about that after we get initial feedback from the contacts we've got. We might also try contacting key branches directly. Like Tompkins Square, for example. By the way, I wouldn't write off Queens so quickly, there seems to be an anarchist community developing in Jackson Heights. Staten Island, on the other hand...

As an alternative, is there any chance something could be worked out with the May Day infoshop? I know that's not nearly as good, but it might be more accomplishable.

Third response:
Well, I'm not sure the library would look at this with a favorable eye. They have been very adamant in the past about not trying to be comprehensive, leaving this to the research libraries instead. In fact, any depth or comprehensiveness seems, mainly, to be an accident at NYPL. Certainly the library likes to think of themselves as a progressive institution, but only when it suits their half-assed desire to appear somewhat transgressive, which often means identifying with social transgressions of the past. You know that public institutions of a non-research nature must keep their hands warshed, not being able to use the excuse that controversial materials are also historical documents for posterity.

On the other hand, if the books are cataloged by the library already, this might not be a big deal. If someone could make a presentation, [names & locales deleted so as not to jeopardize the questioner's negotiation] might be willing to have these books. You must convince them that the community would use the materials, that there is a community there to serve (mention the big anarch section at St. Marks books), and that this kind of information is not readily available at other branches. In other words, you must fit your mission into NYPL's mission. Books not catalogued will probably have to be reviewed by the Office of Adult Services, and may not be accepted.

Some people might not be comfortable

Some people might not be comfortable checking out radical books from a public library, as the Patriot Act would require the library to give circulation information to the FBI/gov't when requested. I personally wouldn't want the FBI to know which radical books I have read.

If you had some sort of private library, you could have a policy of only keeping a record of which books are currently checked out, and discarding the borrower's information once the book is returned. Then if the FBI showed up, you would have nothing to give them.

In response to "some people m

In response to "some people might not be comfortable," I was curious about the policies of the public library, and so I asked the NYPL what their policies are in terms of patron information and records. This is how they replied to my inquiry:

Patron: What is your privacy policy? Specifically, how are your patrons records archived, if at all? How long do you keep them? What is your policy, if you have one, regarding compliance with the patriot act?

Librarian 1: The New York Public Library keeps no records of materials checked out of the branch libraries, persons using the internet in the library, or using databases or any other NYPL materials.
Any patron information that is collected in the process of using library materials during the day is wiped out at the end of the day. There is no archiving of patron records.
The information retained is related to branch library cards --namely the name and address of the card holder, library bar code and pin numbers, fines unpaid and materials not returned to the library.

So this policy is similar to what you were suggesting, and I think this is what the policy is in most libraries. I think that generally librarians are trying to avoid collecting any info that would aid the use of the patriot act. Also, for more info on lingering personal info and barrowing records, you may want to look at the rad ref question "Does Purging Circulation Records Prevent Seizure Under the USA PATRIOT Act?" at: http://radicalreference.info/node/477

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.