Three New York libraries have been certified as “Sustainable Libraries” through the award-winning Sustainable Library Certification Program, the first of its kind in the world, through the New York Library Association.  The Hendrick Hudson Free Library, Saratoga Springs Public Library, and Lindenhurst Memorial Library were recognized at the 2019 Conference of the New York Library Association held in Saratoga Springs, NY, November 13-16, 2019.

“These three libraries have demonstrated leadership in conducting the operations of their organizations, as well as program and service design, with a critical eye towards environmental stewardship, economic feasibility and social equity, said Jeremy Johannesen, Executive Director of the New York Library Association, “Their efforts serve as a model for the 16,500 public libraries in the United States.

“The decision to undertake the certification process was an easy one for us. “It was a chance to help educate our community to the benefits of sustainable practices in all areas of our operations, to save a bit of money and more importantly the environment.”

Jill Davis, Director of the Hendrick Hudson Free Library

International Impact

The three libraries participated in the Sustainable Library Certification Program, the first program of its kind in the world to assist libraries of all types – public, academic, and school – to assess their opportunities to make better choices on behalf of the local and global community.  

“The most important take away we’ve learned from this process is that it isn’t just important for libraries to consider – it is essential to the long term health and strength of the library within the community. Our patrons have reacted positively to the changes we made, in large part because they recognize that we are helping to create a more viable and sustainable community experience for everyone.”

Lisa Kropp, Director of the Lindenhurst Memorial Library

The program was recently recognized by the International Federation of Library Associations at their 2019 World Congress in Athens, Greece, becoming the first program from the United States to be recognized through their “Green Libraries” Award.

Comprehensive Approach

Each Library completed action items in twelve categories such as organizational commitment, waste management, energy consumption, land use, partnerships and social equity and resilience.

“Our Library has a more defined long-term outlook now regarding sustainability, and the important role we play in creating a more environmentally, fiscally, and socially just community for our patrons,” said Kropp, “We’ve become a leader within the community for sustainable practices, and our programs, partnerships, and environmental decisions reflect our dedication to the importance of this work.”

Fifty public libraries statewide are currently working on their certification and the school librarian and academic programs will launch in January of 2020.

“The itsy bitsy spider will drown if you do nothing.”—Climate Strike Protest Sign, September 2019

Check out my latest Library Journal article and challenge yourself to consider how future generations will judge the library leaders of today who are not activating around the issue of climate change… read the full article here.

Check out my latest Library Journal article, “Social Cohesion Means Survival“:

“Two-thirds of the United States, 195 million Americans, recently suffered through a dangerous heat wave in mid-July, bringing to mind the 1995 Chicago heat wave that caused more than 700 deaths due to heat-related illnesses. That heat wave, at its peak, resulted in a heat index—a combination of heat and humidity—of 120. This type of weather is predicted to occur with more frequency and increased severity in the coming years.

“Climate change and its consequences are already manifesting in the form of deadlier storms, rising sea levels, droughts, wildfires, and floods,” the Union of Concerned Scientists stated in its “Killer Heat in the United States” report, released this year. “Yet the heat extremes forecast in this analysis are so frequent and widespread that it is possible they will affect daily life for the average U.S. resident more than any other facet of climate change…” Read the whole article here.

I was thrilled to be interviewed by Adriane Herrick Juarez for the Library Leadership Podcast recently! Check out episode 37: Sustaining Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World!

Very excited to finally see an article I co-write with my academic friends and colleagues from the ALA Special Task Force on Sustainability published in PORTAL! Rene Tanner, Monika Antonelli and Adrian Ho have been wonderful to work with both on the task force and while writing this article. You can check it out here: https://preprint.press.jhu.edu/…/s…/ajm/files/19.3tanner.pdf

My latest article from Library Journal is out, “Next, Do These 5 Things.” I wrote this one in response to the feedback I received after my April column, “On a Mission.”

After a hiatus, I’m back! My latest Library Journal column is now up:

Sustainability  |  On a Mission

The urgency behind sustainability work has been growing year by year and has picked up considerably with the issuance of two reports in fall 2018. The first was the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest, which came out in October. Written and edited by 91 scientists from 40 countries who analyzed more than 6,000 studies, the report finds that the immediate consequences of climate change are far more dire than originally predicted, calling for a transformation of the world economy at a speed and scale that has “no documented historic precedent.” The second report came out one month later: the Fourth National Climate Assessment, which found that societal efforts to respond to climate change have not expanded at the rate or scale needed to avoid substantial damages to the economy, the environment, and human health over the coming decades.

What are we to do? Where do we start? It’s overwhelming, but all we can do is take one step at a time and bring others along with us.

In January 2019, at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, the “Resolution for the Adoption of Sustainability as a Core Value of Librarianship” was adopted by ALA Council. This resolution addresses the first recommendation from the final report of the ALA Special Task Force on Sustainability…read the whole article here.

At the 2019 Midwinter Conference of the American Library Association in Seattle, WA, sustainability was added to the list of core values of librarianship! This was the #1 recommendation from the ALA Special Task Force on Sustainability.

The resolution also calls for accreditation standards to evolve to ensure the topic of sustainability is an inherent element in library school curriculum!

This move by ALA Council is a historic moment in our profession, changing the course of how future leaders will think about libraries and librarians’ role on the topic, better positioning libraries to be leaders in their communities on this topic.

Read the full resolution that was passed here.

At the 2018 American Library Association (ALA) conference in New Orleans we submitted the final report of the Special Task Force on Sustainability. In eight months this task force took a hard look at where opportunities can be found for ALA, our profession and libraries  to step up as leaders on the topic of sustainability.

Results of a national ALA membership survey indicate that ALA is not currently viewed as a leader on the topic of sustainability.

The final report outlines the efforts of this task force, shares the results of a membership survey and provides 52 recommendations to help advance the impact libraries can have to help their communities thrive in the future.

It was a pleasure serving on this task force. I am proud of the work we did. However, there is much to be done. I introduced this report to the ALA Council on Monday of the conference and the timing of my presentation on the agenda was pretty interesting. I was up after Council narrowly voted down a resolution that strongly suggested an increase in socially responsible investing and a divestment of fossil fuel holdings.

Those who serve on Council are good people, trying to balance the economics of the investment strategy while upholding our core values, not always an easy thing. This resolution has been brought up for a vote before, several times in fact, and each time a few more people vote for it. People are educating themselves, drawing a line in the sand about how far they are willing to compromise their values.

The world is changing and our thinking on many things must change too. Sustainability is not a destination. It is a way of thinking. The evolution of our profession must adopt this mindset and we’ve got a strong start in that direction with the report of this task force.

Stay tuned!

“Resilience,” by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, is the first volume to be published in a new series from ALA’s Center for the Future of Libraries. The Library Futures Series is edited by Miguel A. Figueroa, Director of the Center for the Future of Libraries, and produced in collaboration with ALA Neal-Schuman. It focuses on emerging trends in the profession, provoking discussion on how to shape the future by sharing ideas and exploring joint solutions to the challenges facing libraries and society.

Resilience (or resiliency) incorporates preparations for and rapid recovery from physical, social, and economic disruptions, including environmental disasters, terrorist attacks, or economic collapse. As city, state, and the federal governments adopt resiliency as a strategy for addressing potential disasters, libraries may need to align their facilities, services, and programs to demonstrate a resilient strategy. Additionally, libraries may find themselves competing for funding with other programs or initiatives, especially in an increasingly limited pool of government spending. A founding member of ALA’s Sustainability Round Table, and a longtime public library development consultant, in this book Aldrich discusses how resilience can align with library values of equity and access, and why libraries and information professionals may be ideal partners or providers in helping individuals and the communities which they serve adopt resilient practices. This thought-provoking treatment of timely topic offers important points of consideration for library administrators and managers, as well as scholars of urban planning, public policy, disaster recovery, and related disciplines.”

-From the 6.14.2018 ALA Press Release: