Queens Public Library confirms ransomware attack disables digital services across all branches

Queens Public Library confirmed Wednesday that a ransomware cartel encrypted its systems and disabled many digital services at its branches.

The library first warned of outages Wednesday afternoon and confirmed the ransomware attack hours later. It issued multiple alerts on Wednesday stating that a ransomware attack caused the service disruption, with the public alert preceding the formal confirmation by several hours. The library disclosed the ransomware attack after identifying it as the cause of the outage.

A systemwide network outage struck Wednesday and disabled free Wi-Fi, on-site computers, renewals, checkout and return machines, and the website and app at all 66 branches, reaching every branch in the Queens library network. The outage disabled public computers, checkout and return kiosks, wireless internet, digital media services and the mobile app. All of these digital and on-site services were unavailable because of the ransomware attack. As of Thursday morning those services remained unavailable, and the disruption continued into Thursday afternoon.

Every library branch remains open as planned, and physical locations stayed open even though digital services were down. Patrons may check out and return books physically at neighborhood branches, so in-person circulation continued despite the network outage. Borrowers will not face late fines for materials during the service outage, as the library waived overdue fines for the duration. Some virtual and in-person events could be affected, and programming may be limited while systems are restored.

More than 1 million patrons use the library system yearly, according to CEO Dennis Walcott, who cited annual usage to describe the scale of the patron base. Jenny Christi, a regular computer user who visits three to four times weekly, said she borrowed her daughter’s laptop and cannot print documents. Tanya Jones said she lacks home Wi-Fi and phone data, making free library internet access essential because she has no internet or mobile data at home.

Walcott said the library works closely with the NYPD, federal partners, City Hall and cybersecurity experts on the investigation, describing a multi-agency response to the incident. He said the library coordinates with law enforcement, including the NYPD and FBI, to fix the issue. The police department acknowledged a cybersecurity event involving library computer systems, confirming awareness publicly. Police are working with the library and FBI partners on investigative and recovery efforts, and officials are collaborating with police and security specialists to handle the incident.

City officials did not answer requests for comment, so the city government did not provide a public statement on the attack. Officials do not know when services will resume, as library officials said they were unsure of the restoration timeline. The CEO said investigators do not yet know who launched the attack, why they chose the library, or whether the attack exposed user data.

The system ranks among the country’s largest libraries and provides free access to over 5 million books in 50 languages, offering a multilingual collection across its branches. Branches across the borough include seven adult learning sites, teen centers, bookmobiles and book bicycles. The library runs dozens of learning centers in public housing complexes and several mobile libraries across the borough, extending the network beyond traditional branches into housing complexes and mobile units.

Ransomware attackers wrecked The British Library’s systems in 2023, hitting the national library of the United Kingdom in that year. Toronto Public Library needed months to recover from a 2023 ransomware attack it described as a crime scene, with the recovery taking months and the characterization coming internally.

Last year, a ransomware breach at Pierce County Library System in Washington State exposed data belonging to more than 340,000 individuals. Public library systems store large amounts of information about local residents, meaning libraries hold significant data on the populations they serve.