Home Movie Day
October 20, 2020

On this date in 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush signed the "Patriot Act." One section of the act abolished what many had considered traditional US protections regarding the right to read by requiring librarians and archivists to open confidential patron use records to federal government agents without warrant or subpoena. It further forbade library and archives staff from informing patrons if their records had been requested or obtained by federal agents. View the American Library Association's "Resolution on the USA Patriot Act and Related Measures that Infringe on the Rights of Library Users."
October 21, 2020

On this date in 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13233 which erected new barriers to obtaining access to former presidents' White House materials. It sharply diminished the public's right to access by requiring scholars, journalists and others to receive both the permission of former and sitting presidents and to demonstrate a specific "need to know" when requesting documents regarding all presidencies from Reagan onward.
October 24, 2020

On this date in 2001, the United States National Archives and Records Administration signed a secret Memorandum of Understanding with the Central Intelligence Agency to pull documents in the public domain from the shelves and review them for possible reclassification as secret. The memo documented a disturbing role that NARA played in a multi-year effort by US federal agencies to remove thousands of historical documents from public access, even though the records had previously been declassified.
October 24, 2020

On this date in 2003, the new National Archives Building Research Center opened in Washington, DC.
October 27, 2020

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage
October 27, 2020