University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries is a great example of libraries as key players in sustainability on their campus. First of all they actually have a Sustainability Studies Librarian who teaches library research classes and consults with individuals – even local community members, and a great resource guide on the topic. With sustainability integrated widely throughout the campus (currently there are 74 courses related to sustainability!) the library decided to take the next step. Starting in 2012 the Libraries working with the campus’ Annual Giving Office created the “Second Ask” campaign with students making the calls and asking for donations for library, in particular for sustainability efforts. They have received gifts from more than 3,300 donors totaling $150,000 so far. This Sustainability Fund will be used for collection development, curriculum mapping, training for faculty, earth day speakers/events, mini grants for smaller ideas and opportunities - all related to sustainability. Read more in the ALA’s College Library Section newsletter (page 4)!
New Sustainability Round Table at ALA! January 31, 2013
Some of you might have seen my recent post about the Petition To Start A New Sustainability Round Table (SRT) in ALA. Those of us at ALA Midwinter last weekend in Seattle, with our spokesperson/chair Ashley Jones, presented the idea before various committees and action councils at ALA and just found out it has been approved!
SRT’s mission is to provide a professional forum for librarians to exchange ideas and concerns regarding sustainability in order to move toward a more equitable, healthy and economically viable society; and resources for the library community to support sustainability through curriculum development; collections; exhibits; events; advocacy, communication and library buildings and space design.
We thank all those who signed the e-petition to get this rolling! Join our LinkedIn Sustainability Libraries group. And stay tuned for more information and how to get involved with the new SRT. We will have a meet up at ACRL and in ALA Chicago!
Here is photo (thanks Mara Egherman for sharing) taken right after our meeting with the ALA Committee on Organization, who voted unanimously to bring it to Action Council! Seated: Ashley, Beth (me!), Mara …and in back, Jonathan Betz-Zall (an amazing supporter and adviser & long time active advocate for sustainability)
Greening your trip to Seattle January 23, 2013
Heading to Seattle for ALA Midwinter this week? The Seattle Convention Center is actually LEED certified silver! Of course, by actually traveling to the conference you (and I!) are already being unsustainable - especially for me to fly from southeast to the northwest.
But what else can be done to be greener or more sustainable to and from and while in Seattle? Here are some tips:
- Bring your own water bottle (You can fly with it – go through security with it empty and fill up on the other side! Many airports like Seattle’s offer nice refill stations according to this blog post)
- Bring your own coffee mug (In rainy chilly Seattle a mug of tea or coffee will be welcoming especially on the-go with your own to-go and many place offering discounts for BYOM)
- Bring your own snacks on the plane or rail or car .. and for hotel room: snack mix, fruit, granola bars, instant oatmeal, popcorn (Usually its cheaper, better and healthier!)
- Try public transportation if you are flying in – light rail from airport to convention center is only $2.75 (well it’s Westlake Center stop, located 3 blocks from the Convention Center) Great local info by YALSA here – check out the recreation walking map link too!
- When eating out try for local, sustainable, eco-friendly places (Check out this list! Or the list complied for ALA from a local – you can always ask a place about their policies!)
- Limit your swag and picking up promotional materials or handouts that will just be tossed. Can you access the handouts online? Do you really need extra plastic swag? Also note, if you are flying, carrying all that material back home uses energy which really does add up if everyone were to bring back a few extra pounds.
- Stop by the Task Force on the Environment meeting (via SRRT) on Friday night at 7:30pm AND join us for a discussion at the Networking Uncommons on Saturday at 4pm to discussion the possible new Sustainability Round Table of ALA.
other travel helpful resources:
- though a few years old, this post still has some good tips to consider when booking a flight.
- For planning a meeting or conference; or try these tips.
- Read the book chapter from Greening Libraries Going Green at the 2009 ACRL 14th National Conference in Seattle.
Petition to start a new Sustainability Round Table through ALA! January 11, 2013
Petition to start a new Sustainability Round Table through ALA! Membership must be active to sign. Please forward to other ALA members who support the advancement of sustainability in libraries.
if you are going … Join us at ALA Seattle On Saturday Jan 26 at 4pm for a Sustainability Round Table planning and discussion meet up at the Networking Uncommons!
The mission of the Sustainability Round Table (SRT) is to provide:
1) A professional forum for librarians to exchange ideas and concerns regarding sustainability in order to move toward a more equitable, healthy and economically viable society.
2) Resources for the library community to support sustainability through curriculum development; collections; exhibits; events; advocacy, communication and library buildings and space design.
Greening ALA conferences… June 18, 2012
Please fill out this 3 question survey about greening ALA:
Go to form or fill out below: (This survey idea came from the Librarians for Sustainability webinar series created by M. Charney, B FilarWilliams and B Smith, hoping the new TFOE chairs and group would use to promote better sustainable practices at future ALA conferences.)
Also be sure to think about your personal green habits when conferencing. Here is a post I did about greening an ala conference in the past, a post about how green the AASHE conference was, though its probably too late to book a flight – a post about green flying tips, and a greening conferences website recommended by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich (thx!)
Going to ALA? June 13, 2012
I hope you attend the Task Force on the Environment meeting Friday night June 22, at 7:30pm at Hilton Anaheim Oceanside. (you can vote here on Linkedin to let people know if you are attending … and join the Sustainability Librarians Linkedin group!)
Also if you go to ALA please tweet #SustLib from any ALA2012 session having to do with green topics (thanks Mara Egherman for creating this!)
Greening Your Public Library Online Workshop March 6, 2012
if you missed the announcement be sure to consider attending this virtual ALA Workshop on Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 2:30pm – 4:00pm Eastern. Greening Your Library: Save Money and the Environment (ALA Editions Workshop). Presented by Kathryn Miller, author of ALA Editions’ Public Libraries Going Green,
Your library is vital to connecting citizens with the knowledge and tools to change habits and lessen our impact on the Earth’s limited resources, and it all starts with leading by example. In this workshop Kathryn Miller, author of Public Libraries Going Green, will discuss practical ideas for how to become green, teach green, and lead green. Miller will introduce environmentally-friendly, money-saving initiatives that fit your existing building and services. Ideas for hands-on activities, such as rain barrels or butterfly gardens, will help you raise awareness and get your community involved.
Topics include:
- What it means to be green
- Ideas for your action plan
- Socially responsible collection management, from purchase to disposal
- Program ideas for children, young adults, and adults
Libraries for Sustainability Webinar Series 2012 – kickoff 2/28/12 February 10, 2012
Please join us for the kick-off webinar of the Libraries for Sustainability Webinar Series 2012 :
Feb 28, 2012 – 2:00-3:00 (EST) - Call to Action and Collaboration – Sign up now!
ALA’s Task Force On the Environment (TFOE) has been engaged in environmental issues for over 20 years and done some tremendous work but has suffered from a lack of participation and lost momentum in recent years.
Join us, and Maria A. Jankowska (UCLA Research Librarian and Editor of Electronic Green Journal), most recent TFOE chair, to understand what TFOE has accomplished, including pitfalls and successes – plus recommendations for next steps. Should this group be revitalized and/or is a change in direction indicated? What are some options for remaining engaged at the local and national levels? Where are opportunities for collaboration and action around broader sustainability issues?
Hopeful outcomes: Informal meeting at ALA 2012 in June to work on forming a new group; planning for sustainability-related presentations at ALA 2013! – Sign up now!
Time permitting, please review Maria’s recent article, Going beyond Environmental Programs and Green Practices at the American Library Association, which provides a helpful timeline of TFOE’s history and associated activities.
Webinar series facilitators: Madeleine Charney (UMass Amherst Libraries), Beth Filar Williams (UNC Greenboro), and Bonnie Smith (University of Florida Libraries).
Stay tuned for more webinars:
April 24, 2012, 2:00-3:00 (EST) – Exploring Sustainability Practices in Libraries
June 12, 2012, 2:00-3:00 (EST) - Preparing for ALA Annual Informal Meeting
August 28, 2012 2:00-3:00 (EST) – Action Plan Follow Up & Discussion
Questions? Contact Madeleine Charney at mcharney@library.umass.edu or Beth FilarWilliams at greeningyourlibrary@gmail.com
Greening your time @ ALA June 24, 2010
ALA has been trying to promote greener practices at conferences – lets hope we see some green practices while conferencing in DC (Or hey maybe you are just joining us online!)
What you can do:
- Bring your own reusable water bottle and coffee mug!
- Eat at Green Restaurants. Here is a list of certified green places to support. Can you bring your leftovers back to the hotel in your own reusable container to reheat in a microwave for another meal?
- Ask you hotel and restaurants how green they are: do they recycle (many restaurants do not!), do they conserve water, do they use compact fluorescent light bulbs, etc. Check out the green hotel association Website and the going greener restaurant site for more information.. you could even mention these Web sites to the manager of the place.
- Can you carpool to the conference, take a train, or if you fly rent a hybrid vehicle? Walk or take the metro while in DC.
- Try to not pick up excessive promotional materials or handouts that will just be tossed. Can you access the handouts online? Do you really need extra plastic swag? Also note, if you are flying, carrying all that material back home uses energy which really does add up if everyone were to bring back a few extra pounds.
Convention Center:
The Washington Convention Center has green initiatives in place.
Sessions:
Be sure to check out the SRRT’s Task Force on the Environment’s session “Is It Safe to Go Outside? Health Effects of Climate Change and Global Warming“ on Saturday 1:30-3:30 @ Convention Center room 210. The TFOE has their round table meeting – all invited that same Saturday morning at JW Marriott ballroom IV from 8:30-10am. LITA is also offering a green computing session “Emerging Technologies: Virtualization in Libraries” w/ presenters from UNC Chapel Hill, NW, and Boulder Public Library, @ Convention Center 143B/C on Monday 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM (wish I was still at ALA on Monday to attend!)
Hotels:
It’s exciting to see my hotels looking at sustainable practices. My hotel – St. Gregory Luxury Hotel – has a page explaining their green program, practices and commitment to the environment such as saving water,energy efficiency, and recycling.
Exhibits:
There will be some ”green” vendors at ALA too. ALA has a Green Exhibit Checklist – look for the “green” sign for booths of exhibitors identified as promoting Green Practices! ALA says they will have a Green Pavilion of these vendors at the Exhibit hall so look for that. Just to mention a few ….
- Chelsea Green Publishing booth 2867, is an independent publisher of books dedicated to the practice and politics of sustainability.
- CMS, Inc booth 4034 a software company offering self-service printing, reservations, wireless, etc but also has line of environmental conscious products.
- InterfaceFLOR, booth 4107, producer of commercial modular carpet says it leads the industry in environmental sustainability with “Mission Zero™,” the company’s promise to eliminate any negative impact it has on the environment by the year 2020.
- Imprint Plus booth 4032 offers reusable name badges. It’s always better to reuse before recycling. (though I also like sustainable hand made name tags too)
- Island Press booth 2340, offers books about the environment for professionals, students, and general readers.
- JanWay Company booth 2211, offers reusable and some Environmentally friendly products like water bottles.
- Of course there is also the US Environmental Protection Agency booth 4031 ,whose name says it all. But a new one for me EPA SunWise Program booth 4115, which offers FREE environmental and health education programs related to sun exposure.
- you can also read more about GES Green Initiatives for exhibiting.
View the PDF ALA program for more details! See you at #ala2010
Green Libraries @ ALA connect June 7, 2010
The ALA’s Task Force on the Environment or TFOE, states its mission to “Promotes awareness of environmental issues within ALA; addresses information exchange on the world environment; and provides services, programs and publications that assist librarians with environmental issues in the workplace and in local communities.” Join the green community online at ALA Connect to meet up and share ideas with other green minded librarians!
