Green Libraries

Includes links to ALA sustainability resources as well as a brief list of books and online materials related to sustainable libraries.

SustainRT was created as a venue in which members exchange ideas and opportunities regarding sustainability in order to move toward a more equitable, healthy and economically viable society. The mission of the organization is to provide resources for the library community to support sustainability through curriculum development; collections; exhibits; events; advocacy, communication, library buildings and space design.

Includes links to children's books, as well as a database of books, articles, presentations, websites, blogs, projects and more that fall under the umbrella of sustainable libraries.

The study set out to determine users’ perceptions of green libraries and what libraries are doing to create awareness about environmental sustainability. An adapted green library classification was used to guide and interpret the study. The study adopted a quantitative approach and copies of a questionnaire were distributed to 180 patrons in four City of Cape Town libraries. The data were analysed using SPSS version 23 and results were presented using pie charts, tables, frequency counts and simple percentages. Findings established that respondents were familiar with the majority of environmental terms and the libraries are carrying out four of the eight environmental practices. These are: environmentally sustainable resources; natural ventilation; posters or displays on environmental crises; and natural lighting. The sources respondents most frequently used to find out about green issues were social media, television, books, schools, and magazines. A slight majority of respondents indicated that their libraries were doing enough to promote environmental sustainability. At the same time, most respondents agreed that there is a need for public libraries to educate users on green living and to offer green information literacy. Recommendations include: public libraries creating displays/posters; having educational talks and programmes; and activities and events on green issues that target different audiences.

Review article covering history and current state of the art in green library buildings, programming, and associations. Includes an extensive bibliography.

On 8 and 10 November, The National Archives held an event focused on the role of the archives and cultural heritage sectors in supporting environmental sustainability. The event brought together a wide range of speakers and up to 180 archives, collections and conservation professionals to share histories, networks, perspectives, guidance and actions that could inspire and empower them to work towards a more sustainable future.

Essay with tips for librarians who are starting to think about ways to make their operations more environmentally friendly.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of green building technologies and practices and illustrate how public libraries can use them as tools to teach their communities about sustainability and foster behavior change. Design/methodology/approach – Through literature searches, case studies analysis, and individual phone and e-mail interviews, the author identified ways that public libraries can use their buildings to demonstrate green technologies and practices and show their patrons how to apply them at home, at work, and in the community. Findings – Education is a component of LEED certification. Many LEED certified libraries publicize a list of the green technologies used in their building projects. Some sponsor programs related to the green building and include permanent displays in the library to explain how the technology works. The Fayetteville Public Library went beyond these basic techniques to not only improve the sustainability of their operations

Blog post for Illinois Library Association Connector outlining the steps needed to develop a library sustainability plan.

Blog post for Illinois Library Association Connector detailing the ways that libraries lead sustainability efforts in their communities.

Blog post for the Illinois Library Association Connector about pollution prevention and libraries.

Triple Bottom Line Accounting (TBLA) refers to a method of measuring the economic, environmental, and community service impacts of an organization rather than the traditional practice of measuring just the financial bottom line. This chapter explores TBLA from a historical point-of-view; offers examples in higher education and discusses the implications for academic libraries. It concludes with ideas for the implementation of TBLA in libraries.

This paper aims to develop a conceptual model and a research framework for study of the economic, social and environmental sustainability of digital libraries. The major factors that are related to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of digital libraries have been identified. Relevant research in digital information systems and services in general, and digital libraries in particular, have been discussed to illustrate different issues and challenges associated with each of the three forms of sustainability. Based on the discussions of relevant research that have implications on sustainability of information systems and services, the paper proposes a conceptual model and a theoretical research framework for study of the sustainability of digital libraries. It shows that the sustainable business models to support digital libraries should also support equitable access supported by specific design and usability guidelines that facilitate easier, better and cheaper access; support the personal, institutional and social culture of users; and at the same time conform with the policy and regulatory frameworks of the respective regions, countries and institutions. It is also shown that measures taken to improve the economic and social sustainability should also support the environmental sustainability guidelines, i.e. reduce the overall environmental impact of digital libraries. It is argued that the various factors affecting the different sustainability issues of digital libraries need to be studied together to build digital libraries that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.

A survey of more than 1700 library staff worldwide identifies how libraries contribute to five of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The similarities between academic and public libraries’ adoption, contribution, and use of the Sustainable Development Goals are reported. The results indicate that library staff do substantial work around all five of the selected Sustainable Development Goals. Sometimes the activities are a result of integrating the Sustainable Development Goals into strategic planning, but at other times the activities are a result of programming that library staff undertake as part of their mission. The majority of the respondents have not incorporated the Sustainable Development Goals into their strategic planning. However, the libraries’ support of the Sustainable Development Goals is demonstrated by the activities the library staff are engaged with and the respondents’ comments. The activities identified here can be used to inform library strategic planning and to help library staff maximize their library’s impact on sustainable development.

Designed to help archives, libraries, and museums store, organize, analyze, and share temperature and humidity data, eClimateNotebook is available in a range of levels that meet the needs of small, medium, and large institutions. Click on the Pricing and Sign Up page to review the features included in each level.

Archivists are charged with the preservation of their collections by reducing deterioration because of temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pollutants and other factors. The methods archivists use to preserve their collections may have a negative impact on the environment. This paper aims to identify factors for building environmentally sustainable archives to help guide archival environmental sustainability practices.

Presentation by Dennis Massie to the OCLC Resource Sharing Users Group.

The article discusses the efforts towards environmental sustainability of academic libraries. It notes that these emerging concerns could have their most impact in the initial design of buildings with an effort of acquiring a green building certification or the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The author believes that the library could lead the way in serving as an important contribution of the commitment of an institution towards environmental sustainability.

This book chapter examines the role of libraries in the UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development Program, highlighting their contributions to sustainability education.

There is growing concern that a variety of factors threaten the sustainability of academic libraries: developing and preserving print and digital collections, supplying and supporting rapidly changing technological and networking infrastructure, providing free services, maintaining growing costs of library buildings, and lowering libraries’ ecological footprint. This paper discusses the multidimensional issues of sustainability in academic libraries and identifies needs for designing an integrated framework for sustainable strategies in academic libraries. Additionally, the paper presents a synthesis of existing literature on the increasingly popular topic of “green libraries” and prepares a background toward developing a framework for sustainable strategies in academic libraries.

This article discusses three questions: “How can libraries make an effective contribution to resolving the sustainability challenges we are collectively facing?”; “When are libraries truly sustainable?”; and “How can library management support this shift?”. Looking across libraries and their history over the last few decades, the author discerns different stages of development leading to sustainability. In line with the work of Dyllick and Muff the author describes Sustainability Levels 0.0 to 3.0. The highest level requires a quantum leap and shifts from thinking inside out to thinking outside in. This article addresses the need that there is virtually no academic management literature on the topic of sustainability in libraries. It shows that whilst there are many examples of individual projects or activities, there is a serious lack of methodology at the senior management level.

The sustainable development in librarianship is relatively a new research field. This paper aims to increase readers' understanding of sustainable development challenges in Library and Information Science (LIS) in terms of complexity and diversity. A detailed plan was drawn up from Preferred Reporting Items for the Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) to achieve the objectives of this study. An inclusion and exclusion criteria was established and each study item passed through identification, screening, eligibility and inclusion before being placed in the final pool of items. This paper reviewed literature chosen from LISA, LISTA, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases spanning from 2000 to 2020. Findings revealed that there was diverse type of sustainable development challenges in Library and Information Science (LIS). Absence of sustainable strategies, lack of sustainable education in the LIS curriculum, operations, services and buildings designs and massive energy consumption due to long service hours of libraries were major challenges. More importantly, the rapid digital and technological advances have made libraries' current equipment irrelevant casting a large carbon footprint on the globe. Challenges to adaptation are compounded by clinging to old traditions and resistance to change which limit the ability to plan for long term sustainable development (SD) goals. There is need to remove these obstacles to accrue benefits for today and far reaching implications for the future. The study provides an integrative report to help library leaders and educational policy makers in Pakistan to apply SD initiatives more effectively according to the institutes' contextual needs. The results of this study will also help further the sustainability agenda in LIS by incorporating sustainability into the LIS curriculum.

This report summarizes the results of an online Dialogue entitled “Libraries as a Community Resource for Environmental Information” that was conducted from September 18 through September 29, 2000. Environmental Law Institute (ELI) managed the project under a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Information Renaissance, a non-profit corporation that promotes the use of networking infrastructure to support education, community development, and democratic expression produced the Dialogue.

The purpose of this literature review is to provide an overview of and insights into a selected bibliography of 102 research publications on libraries – of all types – sustainability and sustainable development, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Discusses the impact of climate change on the environment, how it affects libraries, and what librarians can do about it. Includes an extensive resource list and bibliography.

Entire issue is devoted to sustainability in libraries. Individual articles cited elsewhere in this guide.

This 2010 report from the Urban Libraries Council demonstrates how public libraries help local governments achieve sustainability goals in each of the three triple bottom line components and is intended to both celebrate successes to date and provide a roadmap for partnerships that are built to last.

Studies on climate change and sustainability have been gaining interest within the global preservation and conservation communities. However, studies related to sustainability in library preservation and conservation, especially in academic libraries, are still limited. This study aims to determine current practices of sustainable library preservation and conservation in academic libraries. The findings of this study will serve as a starting point to obtaining a comprehensive understanding of how academic libraries are implementing climate change–responsible preservation and conservation programs. This study applies quantitative and descriptive approaches to collect data. A questionnaire was distributed to the top 200 universities in the Universitas Indonesia (UI) GreenMetric World University Rankings 2021. The results show that current practices of sustainable library preservation and conservation implemented at the majority of academic libraries relate to sustainable energy use. Although some areas still need to be developed (e.g., policy and regulation toward sustainable library preservation and conservation practices, alternative eco-friendly preservation and conservation materials, and waste management practices), the fact that academic libraries have implemented sustainable practices in preservation and conservation is noted as a positive finding, since it represents success in universities’ efforts to address the climate change issue.

This article reports on the findings from a survey of the Georgia Library Association (GLA) members on their attitudes toward providing environmental education services in libraries, and their perceptions of the role libraries should play in developing environmentally sustainable community. Information on the environmentally sustainable practices within libraries was also collected, along with the libraries' environmental education services. Most respondents agreed that it is vital to integrate environmentally sustainable practices into library operations and provide environmental education services. However, the study also identified a gap between librarians’ attitudes and the actual environmentally sustainable practices and environmental education services in their libraries due to the reported lack of money, time, and public interests, among some other factors. Findings from this study can inform the discussion on how to support libraries so they can undertake this critical endeavor.

Links to a wealth of information on sustainability in libraries. Focus is California but most of the information will be useful everywhere. Includes summaries of Sustainable California Libraries projects, which may generate ideas for libraries in other states.

Using professional ethics as a framework, this paper argues that climate action can protect records from the impact of climate change, ensuring future access. The information professionals surveyed were motivated by duties to preservation and access to mitigate the impact of the information sector on the environment. However, sector-specific climate action, such as introducing passive storage conditions or decreasing collection sizes, is limited by insufficient resources, organisational hierarchies and cultures, sector support and a perceived conflict with the duty to preservation.

Inspired by work highlighted in Springer Nature’s 2021 Sustainable Business Report, this post takes a look at what’s meant by sustainability and some simple ways librarians can put sustainability on their library agenda.

This article is part of the series of resources and webinars created by the Sustainable Libraries Initiative team, in collaboration with WebJunction, to support libraries in creating a more sustainable future.

LinkedIn group for librarians interested in sustainability.

Provides detailed instructions for developing and implementing a sustainability plan.

A straightforward framework for Illinois public agencies to use when preparing a sustainability plan. To be used with the Sustainability Planning Guide for Illinois State Agencies. The content is general enough to be useful for other types of organizations.

The mission of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative is to empower library leaders to advance environmentally sound, socially equitable, and economically feasible practices to intentionally address climate change and co-create thriving communities.

The Institute for Image Permanence's (IPI) environmental research activities provide practical solutions for libraries, archives, and museums to achieve sustainable environmental management strategies that achieve the best possible preservation environment while using the least amount of energy necessary.

Public libraries are key institutions for dealing with crises in communities. In the midst of a devastating global pandemic and a continual wave of social uprisings, it is necessary for library workers to more seriously reckon with the need for drastic changes in the ways that public libraries respond to and operate within these conditions. It is unclear to what extent libraries have adopted significant changes recommended by organizations and professionals in the field to become resilient and ecologically sustainable. These changes include the abandonment of neutrality discourse, a democratic restructuring of workplaces, and the relocalization of library programs and resources. This paper involves discussions of sustainability, resilience, and degrowth; the effects that capitalism has on libraries and climate change; economic democracy within the workplace; and library neutrality and objectivity. Description of content analysis covers methodological rationale, research instrument, and limitations. Preliminary findings reveal a lack of critical action to foster ecologically sustainable practices, with some minor exceptions; signs of hostility toward workplace democracy in libraries; and biases toward the needs of capital at the expense of labor.

Systematic review to determine the factors influencing the adoption of green libraries for environmental sustainability.

This paper explores sustainability, sustainability awareness, and how it is measured in academic libraries in the United States, and considers how assessment tools or key performance indicators (KPIs) could enhance sustainability efforts in these libraries. The American Library Association core values include sustainability, and several other associations outline the need for sustainability and provide suitable policies and guidelines surrounding sustainability for its successful implementation. However, owing to the complexity of sustainability, often only one of the issues (i.e., social equity, economic feasibility, or environmental stewardship) is addressed, with little consideration for their interactions with the other issues, and most often, is not directly assessed or measured. Therefore, this study assessed sustainability awareness and sustainability efforts and how they are measured in US academic libraries using a survey. Although a limited response was received, the results indicated that few libraries embraced sustainability holistically, with limited assessment of sustainability initiatives, and little direction from leadership. However, for sustainable solutions, it is necessary for library leadership to recommit to their values, promoting a culture of sustainability through continual assessment to benefit their communities in the long term.

The article focuses on environmental sustainability in libraries and archives through jan zastrow's views. Topics include constant advances in new technology, and data centers are becoming more environmentally aware like Cloud-based systems, implementing hierarchical storage management (HSM) policies for alternative data storage, and a hybrid digital-analog world if the future.