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Check Your Shelf

Libraries Under Cyberattack, and More Library News

Never a dull day in the world of library news—here's the latest on $1 million library ransom demands, an important book ban lawsuit, and more.

Katie McLain Horner

Contributing Editor

Katie's parents never told her "no" when she asked for a book, which was the start of most of her problems. She has an MLIS from the University of Illinois and works full time as a Circulation & Reference Manager in Illinois. She has a deep-rooted love of all things disturbing, twisted, and terrifying and takes enormous pleasure in creeping out her coworkers. When she's not at work, she's at home watching the Cubs with her cats and her cardigan collection. Other hobbies include scrapbooking, introducing more readers to the Church of Tana French, and convincing her husband that she can, in fact, fit more books onto her shelves. Twitter: @kt_librarylady

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Here’s some of the news that’s been going around Library Land over the last week.

Libraries Are Under Cyberattack

Along with bomb threats and book challenges, we’re seeing an increase in the number of libraries dealing with ransomware attacks, where hackers gain access to a library system’s data, encrypt the files, and then demand a ransom in exchange. (The Seattle Public Library system recently went through an enormous ordeal earlier this year that has already cost the library over $1 million in technology upgrades and legal fees.) But now Delaware libraries across the state have closed their computer labs after being hacked last week. The ransom demand is allegedly around $1 million, although typically, organizations rebuild in the wake of a ransomware attack, rather than pay the ransom. Thankfully, patron data has not been affected in Delaware.

Book Ban Lawsuits

The lawsuit filed against Llano County (TX) for unlawfully banning books from the public library is one of the most closely-watched cases right now for libraries, and for good reason. The lawyers for Llano County have now argued that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals should reverse its own ruling from the 1995 case Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board, which established strong First Amendment rights for schools and libraries, and they’ve brought in the Florida Attorney General to argue that the decisions of public libraries should be considered “government speech,” and therefore exempt from First Amendment protections. EveryLibrary released a strongly-worded statement against these tactics, but let me just reiterate that if the court rules in favor of Llano County, public schools and libraries will become tools of government propaganda.

Meanwhile, in Iowa, publishers and advocates have filed a new complaint in an attempt to strike down the book ban provision in Iowa’s controversial law SF 496. The defendants here are also arguing that book bans should constitute “government speech,” so again…when I say that the decision in the Llano County case will have far-reaching repercussions…I mean it.

Casting Updates

Okay, on to something a bit lighter! We’ve got casting updates for a number of upcoming adaptations, including East of Eden, The Woman in Cabin 10, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, and The Corrections. Plus, after news broke last week that Emerald Fennell had cast Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff in the upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation, people had some thoughts.

Any thoughts on these updates? Let us know in the comments!