By Mikael on Sunday 5 December 2010, 11:13

Dear librarians and other citizens,

greetings from Finland where I am trying to understand the world, and what
I am.

I visit the library. Therefore I am a citizen. But now my library has
blocked WikiLeaks:

    "The Library decided to block Wikileaks because applicable law
obligates federal agencies to protect classified information. Unauthorized
disclosures of classified documents do not alter the documents' classified
status or automatically result in declassification of the documents."

Thus blogged, on December 3, 2010, the Director of Communications of the
US Library of Congress
(http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2010/12/why-the-library-of-congress-is-blocking-wikileaks/).

My library? Yes, the US Library of Congress, one of the world's greatest
and finest libraries, belongs to US, the peoples. It must not become the
Ministry of Truth of the US Federal State!

We are looking for The New Universalism. Well, here it is, in a nutshell: 
It is the openness of the library.

On closer thought, however, the Universalism of the library is not
precisely new. Indeed, it is as old as the famous ancient library which
was located in Egypt, Africa, the library of Alexandria, of which we read:
"Other than collecting works from the past, the library was also home to a
host of international scholars, well-patronized by the Ptolemaic dynasty
with travel, lodging and stipends for their whole families".

The open space of the Library of Congress must be re-opened! If it remains
closed, our open space of the world social forum is also in danger. This
is the famous "clear and present danger" (cf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_and_present_danger)!

Of course, the censorship of the LOC is ridiculously easy to circumvent.
Its staff and visitors just have to leave the reading rooms of the LOC,
and visit the nearest internet café, in order to read the WikiLeaks. Or go
to the nearest newsstand to read the the newspapers... However, it is the
very principle of the library which has to be defended. Which is to serve
us, the citizens, with all the documents, without delay.

On December 2, 2010, the International Federation of Journalists, and the
Reporters sans frontières, condemned the desperate and dangerous blockades
against WikiLeaks, and expressed its concern against the repressive
measures taken against Julian Assange and Bradley Manning:

    "The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the
political backlash being mounted against the whistle-blowing website
WikiLeaks and accused the United States of attacking free speech after it
put pressure on the website's host server to shut down the site yesterday.
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the political backlash
being mounted against the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks and accused
the United States of attacking free speech after it put pressure on the
website's host server to shut down the site yesterday. " "The IFJ is also
concerned about the welfare and well-being of Julian Assange, the
WikiLeaks founder, and Bradley Manning, the United States soldier in Iraq
who is under arrest and suspected of leaking the information. Both men are
the target of a growing political campaign mounted by government officials
and right-wing politicians".
http://www.ifex.org/united_states/2010/12/02/wikileaks_backlash/

Now is the time for library and information professionals (LIS) everwhere
to join the professional communicators in their defense of WikiLeaks and
free speech. Libraries and social forums unite! Provide space forWikiLeaks
on the Library's internet servers!

- Mikael


Mikael Böök * book@... * gsm +358(0)-44 5511 324 * 
http://www.kaapeli.fi/book/  * http://blogi.kaapeli.fi/book/ *
http://blog.spinellisfootsteps.info/