Arfa Rana

A major system outage at the London Public Library that's knocked out electronic borrowing&nbsp;and the website&nbsp;is being investigated as a "cyber incident".

The library said the outage started Wednesday morning and resulted in three branches having to shut their doors.&nbsp;&nbsp;

'Major systems outage' hits London Public Library

The London Public Library is dealing with a major systems outage, CBC News has learned, with the shutdown affecting the library's website and electronic system for checking out materials.

Library patrons were unable to use the public computers after a systems outage on Wednesday.

Library out of order sign

"All I can say at this point is that I know we're a critical resource for a lot of Londoners but we will keep them up-to-date as much as we can," said library CEO Michael Ciccone on London Morning Thursday.

The library is having to rely on its social media channels to communicate with the public.&nbsp;Ciccone&nbsp;said experts are investigating but the impact of the incident has not&nbsp;been determined.&nbsp;&nbsp;

On Oct. 28,&nbsp;the Toronto Public Library&nbsp;(TPL) was also the victim of a "cybersecurity incident" with work still underway to restore services. That library&nbsp;did not pay a ransom to recover the stolen material.

Toronto Public Library says services affected by cyberattack to be restored starting in January

Toronto Public Library (TPL) says services affected by an Oct. 28 cybersecurity attack will not begin to be restored until January.

A row of desktop computers in an empty library are roped off by yellow tape.

Computers blocked off with tape at a Toronto Public Library branch this week. The library says access to computers and printers, along with other services, will likely continue to be inaccessible for another week.

TPL library attack

Computers blocked off with tape at a Toronto Public Library branch earlier this month. The library says access to some services, including its website and public computers, won't begin to be restored until the new year.

TPL has said&nbsp;personal information — including the names, birthdays, social insurance numbers and home addresses — of employees was stolen in the attack.&nbsp;

"We expect that it will take us some time to restore our systems," said Ciccone.&nbsp;

The Carson, Glanworth and Lambeth branches will remain closed until next week. In-person borrowing is available at the library's other branches, and currently the wifi&nbsp;at branches is not available.&nbsp;

The London Public Library will continue to post updates about the investigation.

London Public Library

The shutdown affected everything from the library's website to its electronic system for borrowing materials. 

Cyberattack behind major system outage at London Public Library

Toronto's library hit

More Stories Like This