The Director of the Long Beach Public Library has endorsed a command by the City Manger's Office that the names of anyone who asks a "suspicious" (left undefined) question about buildings in Long Beach should be turned into the Long Beach Police Department. Dozens of people ask for folders containing photographs of buildings every month - urban historians, architecture students, tourists, and people simply curious about the history of the city they live in. The requests are, of course, perfectly legal.

At a meeting of the Labor-Management Concerns Committee at the Library a representative of the Library Administration openly stated that she would turn the name of any Arab person who asked to see a folder on City Hall over to the cops. Keep in mind that Long Beach is the only city in southern California whose police have a worse reputation for brutality and lawlessness than the LAPD. They would not hestitate to visit the landlords and employers of anyone whose name was turned over to them, nor would they hesitate to turn the names over to FBI or other Federal agencies.

You can protest against this neo-Mccarthyism by visiting the library website at www.lbpl.org. There is and e-mail section where you can make your views known. Or call (562)570-6291