This happened to my state's library system a while back. Public computers and free wifi were down for a few months, but no major disruptions of lending services. I don't think the state paid any ransom, instead they just repaired their systems.

That would also have arguably been more risky of a redemptive act than the right thing to do in this circumstance.

I remember hearing that they do have customer support, though! Not sure if you can escalate to a sales rep to get a personalized quote or non-profit discount from there.

some groups offer it (not out of goodness: rather on price discrimination grounds)

Many other uses of tax dollars are handouts for a very small number of people that most of us see no benefit from (and may even have side-effects that make things worse for everybody else).

A beloved public institution, that improves society as a whole, is equally available to all, has enough money to do their mission well offer auxiliary services and to take advantage of PSA programs?

What a treasure.

Kind of like how many regions will have a unified transit payment card, even if it covers a half dozen completely independent adjacent transit systems

Wipe the system and start again.

Libraries are for reading and socialising, so many users here have a really really hard time to imagine that someone might have some benefit from them.

Personally, I believe these are important for a functional society more generally.

At least every other week if not more often. I also use the library digital services a good bit. There's always lots of people at the libraries I go to browsing books, I imagine they're also checking them out.

> it could probably disappear and no one would miss it.

The libraries I go to have so many people using their various services constantly. People studying and reading. Kids playing, exploring and reading. 3D printers buzzing. Classes and events being hosted.

> one extra field trip for every school child per year

You're going to replace something lots of people use across all age ranges constantly with a single day event for only children once a year? Sounds like a terrible loss IMO.

I agree a library is way more than just a place to get books today. They do offer a lot of community center features, and I think modern library designs should cater to that need as well. But they're not homeless shelters, they're not daycares. They still have their own specific use, a general place of learning and knowledge for all people. A place for all the community to come together, not just little kids or just the homeless. It's just the way we go about sharing that has evolved a bit over time compared to the stodgy old libraries of the past.

Their systems are largely open to the public, their computer spaces might be the only computer some have access to. There was a time when the advice about a dodgy file was to just open it at the library computer.

Much of their staff might be outreach hires and so limited/no workexperience that might have endured corporate training around information governance or cyber security.

And they do that on a budget where they can't afford shoe strings.

honestly blame Elmo / DOGE for this; they are the $company who divested your security for you, thinking you could just "wing" it too

Yes, because public libraries are well known for being awash in spare cash and never ever operate on a shoestring budget.

Most of what libraries do technologically is now outsourced to SAAS companies that specialize in the library space (there are at least 2 major one in the US, and I think at least 3 or 4). (encore and bibliocommons are the 2 major ones that I remembered and am pretty sure I've seen at least 2 others).

If everything you are doing is in the cloud, I'd argue that recovering from a ransomware attack is more of a question of if the SAAS company did its job right (which it should be more capable of handling). Of course, that's a reasonable question if they did (similarly why I prefer paying with paypal or google or even (as not so common) amazon third party payment systems than a retailers own internal payment system, yeah they might screw up too, but they invest a lot more into not screwing it up).

I've noticed Spydus seems to have a big marketshare in the UK.

Your assumption that enough people would change their vote (or non-vote if they didn't turn out previously) based on this to make a difference, I think is unlikely to be correct. People complain a lot about public services when they don't work well, but seldom consider (or do but seldom prioritise them) them at the ballot box.

Sure, let’s close down all libraries and all public services for that matter. Let the public feel the pain. They will understand and vote better next time, right?

You think it is lack of information that got people to vote for this nonsense?

No restaurant can “guarantee” that you won’t die from eating their food, but that doesn’t mean anything goes in the kitchen.

You are aware that personal information is routinely stored in places that you can break into with a literal brick to smash a window? Somehow its only computers where people turn off their brains and argue that proactive measures need to be 100% effective at blocking all attacks no matter how high the cost.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone say they should be 100% effective. Even those physical locations follow some physical security practices. The difference is that computers can be attacked from literally anywhere in the world, and good luck finding the people who did it.

Ok. Where are the criminals who did this?

If we were being consistent, then to your later question, yes. But pointing this out is picking at society's reverse scale.