MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy is being honored by an arm of the American Library Association for his efforts to protect the privacy of people who borrow from the nation’s libraries.
United for Libraries, a division of the ALA, will honor Leahy at a ceremony in Washington on Monday.
Leahy and other privacy advocates have argued that the USA Patriot Act - passed after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center - allowed the government too much leeway to get records of reading materials citizens had taken out of libraries.
The Vermont Democrat has sponsored legislation to enhance privacy protections for library patrons.
Vermont state librarian Martha Reid will travel to Washington to present the award to Leahy.
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