The events discussed in this article by Whatcom County Library System director Joan Airoldi, describe the stand taken by Airoldi and her board of directors, defying a request, then a subpoena, for the name of a patron who checked out a particular book. This exemplary display of personal courage connects Airoldi and her colleagues to those who stood up against the Palmer raids of 1919, the Red Scare of the 1930’s, the McCarthy hearings in the early 1950’s, the COINTEL program of the 1960’s and 1970’s, the illegal wiretaps conducted after September 11, 2001, and the successful passage of the FISA amendment act to make those wiretaps legal.