The Nation - News from Nov. 15, 1988

The FBI agreed to sharply restrict its program of seeking out Soviet agents among specialized library users in New York City but said it will continue to contact libraries elsewhere when it suspects hostile intelligence operatives may be using them for espionage. In a letter released by Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose), a critic of the FBI program, FBI Director William S. Sessions said the agency “will not attempt to circumvent local library management in contacts with librarians, ask for information about people with foreign-sounding names or accents . . . or ask for circulation lists or other records of what people choose to read.”