How ironic that the most quaintly analog form of research possible, using physical books in a physical library, has been devastated by the hijacking of a digital system.
— Read on www.publicbooks.org/how-to-lose-a-library/

“Certainly in the context of the United States right now, public libraries are hot potatoes of the culture wars, and public librarians the sentinels of foundational civil rights, including those of speech and accessibility. In practical terms, public libraries like ours are community anchors, providing resources to many different populations, from infants to elders. Too often, libraries patch gaps in the social safety net, providing shelter and survival resources, along with information resources, to underserved people. Librarians are by profession information wizards, belying any analog-digital binary by instrumentalizing information as useful and as necessary. The job is to connect users and materials, to create that alchemy that blends the stuff and matter of life with the ephemera of knowledge. Whether it’s a small-town public library or one of the world’s flagship research institutions, libraries represent a radically inclusive mission dedicated to knowledge.

That’s the bitter irony at the core of this cybercrime: what was stolen was access to knowledge.”

“Perhaps that’s the bitterest extreme of the irony: the sense in which the ransomware attack violates the very premise of libraries themselves. Libraries exist to connect learners with knowledge. Full stop. That’s what has been destroyed: not the stuff, but the connections, the fascia.”

“But this is a useful, humbling reminder about the fragility of the institutions that connect us and protect us, and the importance of the work they make possible.”