The holidays came a little early this year for some 45,000 Anne Arundel County Public Library customers with an announcement that all overdue fines incurred between September 24-December 14 have been waived.
“We are happy to offer this gesture of goodwill to our customers who patiently stood by us during our recent cyber attack,” said Library CEO Hampton “Skip” Auld.
The library fell victim to the Emotet virus and was forced to shut down public computers on October 4. Additionally, printing, faxing, copying and scanning were unavailable until recently. During the disaster, libraries remained open to provide educational programs, offer books, CDs and DVDs for check out and provide the buildings for community gatherings.
“Despite huge hurdles to overcome, library staff continued to provide exemplary customer service,” Auld said. “Using their creativity and persistence, these hardworking library professionals adeptlyserved our customers, because we know how much residents depend on us for information, education and inspiration.”
During the efforts to restore and upgrade library systems, many customers failed to receive overdue notices so officials have waived fines incurred between September 24 and December 14. This action does not apply to fines for lost or damaged materials or charges dating before these dates.
Nearly $20,000 in fines have already been waived by library staff but those who paid overdue fines incurred during the disaster period can visit or contact their local library for a credit to their account. A list of branches and their phone numbers can be found at www.aacpl.net/location.
“While this disaster caused a major upheaval to our library system, we are coming out a stronger and more nimble organization with a new state of the art technology infrastructure, said Auld. “We look forward to better serving our community in 2019 and beyond.”
