Day after day, visitors to the Perth Amboy Free Public Library arrive to use the facility’s public computers and internet system. This is a normal occurrence at the library, as residents usually use the internet for many reasons, ranging from recreational internet surfing, to essential tasks such as paying bills electronically, and job searching. However, since, at least Thursday October 9th, patrons who seek to use the internet in the public library have been told by staff that the internet has been down, thus subsequently have been unable to use the public computer service, along with the internet.

When asked, the library staff would describe that the internet outage was a result of a mysterious cyber attack or hack that has affected the internet system at all public buildings throughout the City of Perth Amboy. However, there seems to be no other public information provided about the hacker incident, or if the police were investigating. The library staff has suggested, however, that an IT team is attempting to restore the internet at the library. The internet outage was confirmed to have occurred at other city departments in other buildings and has been out for a month.

The rows of computers on the library’s second floor could be seen completely shut down with black screens for days. Library staff computers and internet access has also been down, affecting their work, including their ability to communicate via their work telephones.

As of Wednesday, October 22nd, the internet at the Perth Amboy Free Public Library is still not open to the public, however Wifi has been restored for the purpose of showing movies, and conducting trivia games that are projected on a wall for patrons. So far, there is no known News or Press information outside of the library building itself to inform the public about the incident.  

A newly founded Human Rights Club in the Perth Amboy Free Public Library that meets every second Tuesday of every month, was affected, as they were unable to show an educational documentary about the struggle of indigenous rights in the United States, a day after Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This internet outage also happened to take place, precisely one month after this club showed a provocative documentary via the internet, about U.S Labor history, and Labor Rights. 

 By Ruben E. Mendez