SEATTLE — Nearly two months after a cyberattack on the Seattle Public Library (SPL), cardholders will now be able to return physical items at their convenience.
The library system went offline at the end of May in a ransomware attack, which meant they could no longer offer dozens of services. Patrons were asked to hold onto physical items that they had checked out from branches because librarians did not have the ability to check anything back in.
Now, people are allowed to make returns at their convenience, and items that had been previously checked out have a due date of Aug. 31, according to a statement from SPL.
The library system is now offering in-building WiFi and a variety of other services that have been restored in the weeks after the initial outage. Some recovery has been stalled by the global CrowdStrike IT complications which struck last Friday.
Some services that are still unavailable include access to new library cards online, Wi-Fi printing, physical item self-checkout, placing new item holds, SPL pickup lockers, access to computers, microfilm/microfiche and NewsBank access to some online news sources.
These services are expected to return within the next four to five weeks.