It's always preferable to get a warrant to search, but the stand off at the Newton Library last month was more farce than Constitutional conflict. In an op-ed Richard Cravatts asks a few pointed questions, including:

...[W]hy are librarians, whose professional training concentrates on mastering the use of the Dewey Decimal System, making any decisions that affect law enforcement? By whose authority and with what knowledge are they defining and granting constitutional rights to their patrons? Where have they received training in emergency response, domestic security, and thwarting terrorist threats?

Librarians take their jobs seriously and that's a good thing. But I think sometimes they take themselves a little too seriously.