'We truly miss it': Toronto Public Library cyberattack nears 3-month mark

The Toronto Public Library's nearly three-month hiatus has hit a former employee and avid researcher with a double punch to the gut.

“I can't do anything until I can get back into JSTOR,” Kristine Maitland told CTV News Toronto.

The online research portal is an essential tool for Maitland's Black history research, which is free through the library, but costs almost $200 a year for an individual subscription.

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On top of her research coming to a grinding halt, her personal information was compromised in the cyberattack as a former Toronto Public Library (TPL) employee from 1988 to 1999, starting as a page shelving books and later graduating to a branch assistant.

The hackers stole a large number of files from TPL servers, including former and current employees’ social insurance numbers and government-issued identification, according to the library.

Next week will mark the third consecutive month TPL’s website, public computers and printers have been out of commission. The institution aims to begin a phased restoration process later this month.

“I’m annoyed that they really did not communicate that this was a problem,” Maitland said. The library publicly announced the cyberattack a day after it became aware of the damage, but Maitland said she was not personally made aware of the issue for weeks afterward.

That pending restoration has a monetary cost for Mississauga resident Gary Forkes. Since he doesn’t live in Toronto, he pays $120 yearly for a TPL membership.

An error message Mississauga resident Gary Forkes receives when he tries to get on the TPL website.

“It’s not bankrupting me, but it’s an inconvenience,” Forkes said.

Throughout the outage, he’s had access to his local public library, but it doesn’t have all the books he wants to read, which is why he subscribes to the Toronto library.

“I think it would be a good gesture to extend subscriptions,” he said.

Taking a book out of the library every week has been a four-decade-spanning routine for Senga Milne.

The 73-year-old and her husband love mystery-centric books, and they’ve turned to e-readers to replace their library ritual. While books are still available at the library, the supply is dwindling since returned books cannot be checked back into circulation.

Senga and Willie Milne are seen in an undated photo.

“There’s nothing there because nothing is moving,” Milne said.

Over the last three months, the couple has bought 25 books, costing them approximately $16.99.

“It has impacted our budget, but since we have received so much benefit from the authors over the years reading their books without charge from TPL, I guess it’s only fitting that we finally contribute to them directly,” she said.

“As avid readers and seniors, we truly miss the library.”