Thank you to the folks at American Libraries magazine for inviting me to write the anchor article for the issue devoted entirely to the topic of sustainability! It’s a thrill to see sustainability in the spotlight like this and I so appreciate seeing many of the wonderful colleagues I’ve had the pleasure to work with over the years to advance this topic in the profession in this issue as well, like the one and only Matthew Bollerman, the co-founder of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI); Rene Tanner, who I have had the honor of partnering with on several key projects I feel have been critical to advancing an understanding of the importance of this core value in our profession; and Sarah Tribelhorn, a leading voice on this topic in the academic library community. What a line up!
In 2022, I joined up with some of my favorite folks to work with: Rene Tanner, Monika Antonelli, and Adrian Ho (we met through the ALA Task Force on Sustainability – which resulted in sustainability being named a core value of our profession! – and then collaborated on a book project together) to study the role of public libraries in disaster preparedness and community recovery (and I thank all of you who helped with that survey!)
We ultimately heard from over 1,000 people in our professional from all 50 states.
We could not be more proud of our board of trustees here at the Mid-Hudson Library System for winning the 2024 Velma K. Moore Award from the Library Trustees Association Section of the New York Library Association! The Mid-Hudson Library System Board of Trustees was recognized for their leadership in becoming the first public library system in the country to complete the Sustainable Library Certification Program, inspiring hundreds of trustees here in NY (and across the country!) to follow their lead.
Thanks to WebJunction for inviting me back, this time to talk about best practices for discussing climate change.
“What are the best practices for discussing climate change? Join us to explore effective communication strategies developed through the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (which has been advancing this work for over a decade) and the new National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries. Gain insights from Seeding Action, an initiative aimed at fostering a culture of planetary health action with communities through science centers and museums. Discover how libraries and museums communicate about climate change, its causes, and its solutions. Participants will leave empowered to engage staff, board members, and community members in meaningful conversations that inspire action and foster a proactive response to climate challenges.”
Thanks to Library Journal for continuing to give me a platform to spread the word about sustainability in our profession.
This time around I used my column to spread the word about the join project of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative and the American Library Association to produce a National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries and an implementation guide to help libraries of all types focus their efforts on this topic in the ways experts agree will have the biggest impact.
We could not be more excited to announce that the San Diego County Public Library is the first library in California to be certified under the Sustainable Library Certification Program!
Super proud of Matthew Bollerman (show below having fun at the Imperial Beach branch of the San Diego County Library), co-founder of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative for serving as the mentor to this library during their certification journey. This is the largest library organization – BY FAR – that has been certified through the program.
Read all about their journey here and check out their final presentation here.
How wonderful to see School Library Journal recognize the trail blazing leadership of Ashley Grillo, a librarian at Spackenkill (NY) High School! We are big fans of Ashley as she was one of the first school librarians to be certified under the Sustainable Library Certification Program!
2023-2024 American Library Association (ALA) President Emily Drabinski made a rather large announcement at the opening ceremony of the 2024 ALA Annual Conference in San Diego, CA yesterday: the release of The National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries and the companion Implementation Guide.
“One of my presidential initiatives has explored how libraries can continue to tackle climate change,” said ALA President Emily Drabinski. “After a decade of advocacy within ALA, we partnered with the Sustainable Libraries Initiative to create a National Climate Action Plan for Libraries. I want to give a huge shout-out to the working group that created both the strategy and the implementation plan to help library workers do all they can in the face of this profound threat to our planet.”
In October 2023 we convened the National Climate Action Strategy Working Group* – a truly remarkable lineup of folks from the profession who have been hard at work to make the “grandest challenge of our generation” actionable in the library community.
Behold, the National Climate Action Strategy and Implementation Guide, produced thanks to a partnership of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative and the American Library Association.
*National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries Team
Principal Author: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Executive Director, Mid-Hudson Library System and the Co-Founder/President of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI)
Principal Advisors, SLI Advisory Board: Matthew Bollerman, SLI Co-Founder and CEO of the Hauppauge Public Library; Dr. Jen Cannell, School Library System Director at Southern Westchester BOCES and instructor at Syracuse University and St. John Fisher University; Jennifer Ferriss, Assistant Director of the Saratoga Springs Public Library (NY); and Lisa Kropp, Director of the Lindenhurst Memorial Library (NY)
Principal Advisors, ALA Executive Board: Sara Dallas, Director, Southern Adirondack Library System; and ALA Executive Board Member; Lessa Kananiʻopua Pelayo-Lozada, the Immediate ALA Past President and City of Glendale Assistant Director of Library, Arts and Culture in Southern California; and Christina Rodriques, Senior Program Manager for Member Relations at OCLC and ALA Executive Board Member.
National Climate Action Working Group Members:
Jensen Adams, Sustainability Manager, City of Kansas City and Chair of the ALA Council Committee on Sustainability;
Stacey Aldrich, State Librarian of Hawaii and Chair of the ALA Center for the Future of Libraries;
Tina Chan, Reference Services Program Manager and Humanities Librarian, MIT Libraries and Immediate Past Coordinator of the ALA Sustainability Round Table;
Beth Filar Williams, User Experience Research librarian at Oregon State University Libraries and Press and Founding Member, ALA Sustainability Round Table;
Mandi Goodsett, Performing Arts & Humanities Librarian and OER & Copyright Advisor at Cleveland State University and Coordinator of the ALA Sustainability Round Table;
Susan Hempstead; Assistant Director of Strategic Relations at Sno-Isle Libraries in Washington State;
Katina Jones, Program Manager, Evaluation & Assessment, Public Library Association
Veronda J. Pitchford, Assistant Director of Califa Group;
Mary Sauer-Games, Vice President of Global Product Management for OCLC;
Colleen Seisser, YALSA 2023-24 President, Assistant Director at the Westmont Public Library in Westmont, Illinois;
Michele Stricker, Deputy State Librarian, New Jersey;
