Chester County, Pennsylvania, libraries hit by dayslong outage; staffer cites ransomware

All 18 branches of the Chester County Library System experienced a systemwide outage that disrupted public internet, phones and staff email beginning Sept. 16, 2025. The disruption affected locations across Chester County, including West Chester, Pennsylvania. Officials did not confirm a cause, though Travis Johnson, an employee at Tredyffrin Public Library in Strafford, Pennsylvania, wrote on Facebook that a ransomware attack triggered the downtime and noted on Sept. 26 that “almost everything has been restored now, except for our internal networked drives.”

Recovery proceeded in phases. Public internet and phone service were restored across the system on Sept. 25, with lingering email issues at some sites. By Oct. 6, the library system reported that services—including staff email, phones and public internet—were fully operational. The outage limited patron notifications and delayed routine services such as holds and account inquiries while remediation and investigation continued.