Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MLS, LEED AP

Rebekkah believes that libraries make the world a better place and has devoted her professional life to helping libraries meet the needs of their communities for more than 25 years.

Currently serving as the executive director of the Mid-Hudson Library System (NY), a cooperative public library system that serves more than 600,000 residents via 66 public libraries, Rebekkah has worked to ensure Hudson Valley residents have access to viable, vital, and vibrant libraries through groundbreaking work in trustee education, stable access to funding, sustainable facilities, and co-founded The Library of Local Project which is devoted to program and collection development to ensure our communities are not only resilient but thriving.

Highlights of her work at the state level include authoring/co-authoring the Handbook for Library Trustees in New York State; Handbook for New Public Library Directors in New York; the Public Library District Toolkit: Strategies to Assure your Library’s Legal and Financial Stability; Helping All Trustees Succeed (HATS) curriculum; legislation to reduce barriers to libraries getting on the ballot to access funding for library operations as well as legislation to mandate public library trustee education.

Nationally, Rebekkah is the co-founder of the award-winning Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI) and the principal author of the Sustainable Library Certification Program for public and academic libraries. Rebekkah has authored/co-authored key resolutions for the Council of the American Library Association (ALA) including the Resolution on the Importance of Sustainable Libraries and Resolution for the Adoption of Sustainability as a Core Value of Librarianship. Rebekkah served as the inaugural chair of the ALA Council Committee on Sustainability, which published “Sustainability in Libraries: A Call to Action,” in the committee’s first year of existence.

Most recently, Rebekkah was the chair of the ALA-SLI National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries Working Group and principal author of the National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries and the Strategy Implementation Guide.

A frequent presenter on the national and international stage, Rebekkah enjoys talking all manner of sustainability with library stakeholders.

Contact Rebekkah: Rebekkah @ SustainableLibraries  dot org

Publications

National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries (2024)

“Sustainable Libraries in 2035: Refuge, Resistance, Resilience, Regeneration” (chapter), Libraries 2035: Imagining the Next Generation of Libraries  |  Webcast

Handbook for Library Trustees of New York State

Distinguished Seminar Series Viewing Guide, OCLC (2023)

Sustainable Libraries WebJunction Series (2023):

• Sustainability 101

• Getting Started with Climate Action Planning

• Disaster Preparedness and Community Resilience

• Climate Justice

• Programs that Walk the Talk

• Stronger Together: Collective Impact and Climate Action

“Community Resilience” (chapter), Information Services Today: An Introduction, Third Edition  |  Webcast

Libraries & Sustainability: Programs and Practices for Community Impact, ALA Editions

Public Library District Toolkit: Strategies to Assure your Library’s Legal and Financial Stability, New York State Library

Sustainability in Libraries: A Call to Action, ALA

Libraries in the Doughnut Economy, Monika Antonelli, Rene Tanner, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, and Adrian K. Ho

Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World, ALA Editions

Resilience, Library Future Series, ALA Editions

Sustainability Column, Library Journal

• National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries Under Development, 3.7.2024
• One Last Chance, 4.12.2023
• Living Our Values Out Loud, 9.21.2022
• Power to the People, 12.2020
• No Justice, No Peace, 10.2020
• What the World Needs Now, 6.2020
• Sustainability at a Social Distance During COVID-19, 4.2020
• Wake Up, Your House is on Fire, 9.2019
• Social Cohesion Means Survival, 8.2019
• Next, Do These 5 Things, 6.2019
• On a Mission, 4.2019
• Certified Sustainable, 10.2017
• Don’t Let This Moment Pass You By, 7.2017
• Subversive Librarians, 4.2017
• Arming the Ramparts, 2.2017
• Deliberate Resilience, 12.2016
• Each Choice Tells Our Story, 10.2016
• Local Supports Local, 7.2016
• The Capacity to Endure, 5.2016

Libraries as Sustainability Leaders: ALA’s Special Task Force, Rene Tanner, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Monika Antonelli, and Adrian K. Ho

Winning Elections and Influencing Politicians for Library Funding (Introduction), ALA Editions

Better Library Design (Chapter), Rowman & Littlefield

Sustainable Thinking (Chapter), The Green Library – Die grüne Bibliothek, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions

Greening Libraries in Historic Buildings (Chapter), Greening Libraries, Library Juice Press

A Whole Systems Approach: Integrated Building Design, Library Journal

Handbook for New Public Library Directors in New York State

Recent Presentations

Trustee Handbook Book Club

Keynote, Maryland Library Association-Delaware Library Association State Conference

AMICAL Consortium

Vermont Library Association

Closing Keynote, Massachusetts Library Association State Conference

LibLearnX 2024, Baltimore, MD (with Lisa Kropp, Jennifer Ferriss, and Matthew Bollerman)

OCLC Distinguished Seminar Series

Sustainable Libraries: Resources and webinars for climate action (WebJunction – SLI)

• Sustainability 101
• Climate Action Planning (Part 1): An Introduction
• Climate Action Planning (Part 2): Disaster Preparedness and Community Resilience
• Climate Justice
• Living Our Values Out Loud: Programs that Walk the Talk
• Stronger Together: Collective Impact and Climate Action Programming

Northeast Summit on Climate Adaptation for Library Facilities (produced in partnership with the Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont State Libraries)

Keynote, Iowa Library Association Conference

The Storm is Already Here: A National Survey of Public Library Disaster Preparedness and Community Resilience, ALA Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, 2023

Libraries as Adaptation Leaders, Gigabit Libraries Network (with Bill McKibben and Beth Filar Williams)

Triangle Research Libraries Network Annual Meeting

Keynote, The Icelandic Library and Information Science Association

MAIN Library Alliance (NJ)

Rockefeller Institute of Government

Omega Institute

ALA Public Programs Office: Libraries & Sustainability Book Club

Virginia State Library

Texas Library Association Conference

Closing Keynote, Connecticut Library Association

Keynote, NCLIVE

Computers in Libraries, 2021

Opening Keynote: The Just Transition, 2021 Library Journal Summit: Building the Next Normal

Opening & Closing Keynote, Library 2.020 Mini-Conference on Sustainability in Libraries

Keynote, Florida Libraries Online Conference: Fostering Resilient Communities

Keynote, The Exchange, ALCTS/LITA/LLAMA

Symposium on the Future of Libraries, American Library Association, Midwinter Conference, Nashville, TN

Keynote, Association of Rural and Small Libraries Conference, Burlington, VT

International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), Athens, Greece

US Embassy, Peru: Sustainability in US Libraries

Next Library Conference, Dokk1, Aarhus, Denmark: Scaling Social Cohesion – Co-Creating Library-Led Community Resilience (with Rebecca Miller)

New Jersey State Library: Sustainable Thinking for the Future of Libraries (with Matthew Bollerman)

Library Journal’s Public Library Think Tank: The Power of Youth Services, Transforming Public Library Impact (with Lisa Kropp), Miami, FL

Keynote, joint conference of the Hawai‘i Library Association (HLA) and the Hawai‘i Association of School Librarians (HASL)

Change Management, New York Library Association

Youth Services & Sustainability, with Lisa Kropp, New York Library Association

Sustainable Thinking for the Future of Libraries |  Public Library Association webinar

Keynote, Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference (twice!)

Symposium on the Future of Libraries, American Library Association, Midwinter Conference  |  Atlanta, GA

Library Journal Library Director’s Summit (with Matthew Bollerman)  |  Sacramento, CA

Keynote, Vermont State Library Trustee Conference  |  Stowe, VT

Libraries: A Powerful Platform for Change (with Matthew Bollerman)  |  New York Library Association Conference  |  Saratoga Springs, NY

Saving the World, One Library at a Time  |  Virginia Library Association

LEEDing and Living: Sustainability’s Role in Your Project  |  Lead the Change, Library Design Workshop  |  Library Journal

Masters Series |  American Library Association Midwinter Conference

LLAMA Thought Leaders Series: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich

Empower, Engage, Excite: The Future of Library Advocacy  |  Central New York Library Resource Council  |  Syracuse, NY

Sustainable Thinking  |  Leadership & Management Academy  |  Albany, NY

10 Easy Ways to Ruin Your Library’s Reputation (PR Essentials) | Pre-Conference | Public Library Association (PLA) Conference

Throw Out the Map and Get Out the Compass:  Leading Libraries Forward in Uncertain Times | Library Survival Conference | Buffalo, NY

Fear is the New F Word | New York Library Association Conference | Niagara Falls, NY

Strategies for Sustainable Funding | Westchester Library System | Ossining, NY

The Changing Season of Libraries | Lackawanna County Library System | Scranton, PA

ŸŸSustainable Thinking: Passageway to Better Buildings, Budgets & Beyond | American Library Association Conference | Anaheim, CA | [co-presented with Susan Benton, Director, Urban Libraries Council, Jeffrey Sherer, founding principal of MS&R Architects, and Louise Shaper, former director of the Fayetteville Public Library (AK)]

ŸBuilding Your Base (& Your Budget) | Public Library Association Conference