File under 'Don't mess with librarians'
I WAS disappointed in the inflammatory headline to the Richard Cravatts piece ("When librarians protect terrorists," op-ed, Feb. 6). By implying that librarians protect terrorists, it supported the equally inflammatory language of his article, which called librarians ''apoplectic" in their desire to provide protection to their patrons and further muddied the issues of what, exactly, are the rights of the public and the responsibilities of librarians in cases involving the Patriot Act.
He uses as his source for the interpretation of the law a senior fellow from a policy institute. Is that the same as a law expert? Did Cravatts research this himself, perhaps with a trained law librarian? He could have invited all concerned to do the research needed to determine whether there are, in fact, clear instructions about the procedures that may or should be taken in the case of a perceived threat to the public safety and health of our citizens.
Librarians do not, I think, love terrorists as a rule. If they are passionate about something, it may be their role in providing information from sound sources to the general public in one of the last bastions of equality and freedom, while protecting the right of those people to pursue their interests without fear.
A librarian can also tell Mr. Cravatts that correct usage is''different from," not ''different than."
BARBARA BRYANT
Foxborough
WHILE I couldn't agree less with Richard Cravatts's take on the enforcement of the laws concerning privacy, I will agree with his contention that librarians know the Dewey Decimal System. That a librarian's professional training concentrates on mastering the use of the system is quite off the mark, however, and as enlightened a concept in the 21st century as starting a fire with a stone and a spark. In any event, should he himself ever need to be catalogued, I've got a spot for him on the shelf at 621.945. That would be the 620s for Engineering, 621.9 for Tools and Fabricating Equipment, and, specifically, 621.945 for Boring Tools.
ERIKA TARLIN
Somerville
The writer is a librarian at Buckingham Browne & Nichols in Cambridge.
