We got a shout out on BookRiot!!

Buy it here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/565575596/librarian-bag-library-tote-bag-for

‘Tis the season to reflect back on the past twelve months and in doing so, I can’t help but be excited about what is going to happen in the coming year(s).

In 2017:

• The American Library Association’s Executive Board formed a Special Task Force on Sustainability, which I am co-chairing alongside Rene Tanner of Arizona State University
• The New York Library Association launched the first-of-its-kind Sustainable Library Certification Program and already has 15 libraries signed up
• Bill McKibbon spoke at the 2017 American Library Association Conference in Chicago
• I finished my book, which I have been working on for an awfully long time:  Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World (available “any day now” from ALA Editions)
• I’m about to finish a second book on resilience for the ALA Center for the Future of Libraries and was named to the Center’s advisory board
• Living Building Challenge made the cover of Library Journal
• I was invited to be the closing keynote speaker at the Hawaiian Library Conference, their 2017 theme was “Sustainability: More than the Environment”
• Matt and I co-presented the keynote at Agents of Change: The Importance of Sustainability in Public Schools, Universities and Libraries.The event featured a who’s who of sustainability leadership in the largest city in the U.S. (the ninth largest city in the world for those playing along at home): New York, NY:
  • Mark Chambers, Director, Mayor’s Office of Sustainability
  • Meredith McDermott, Director of Sustainability, New York City Department of Education (the largest school system in the country)
  • Tria Case, University Director of Sustainability and NYSolar Smart, The City University of New York
  • Alex Mikszewski, Energy Manager, Brooklyn Public Library System
  • Garrett Bergen, Associate Director of Facilities Management, New York Public Library
  • Tameka Pierre-Louis, Sustainability and Energy Liaison Officer, Queens Library

Libraries are stepping up and owning their role as sustainability leaders in their community. In 2009 I started this journey in earnest and I couldn’t be more excited about where the path is leading. I look forward to working with you all to ensure libraries are catalysts for a brighter future for us all.

NYLA Council Approves Sustainable Library Certification Program; Historic Decision Launches First Benchmarking Initiative of Its Kind

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The New York Library Association (NYLA) is proud to announce a one-of-a-kind opportunity for New York’s public libraries to step up as sustainability leaders in their communities: The Sustainable Library Certification Program.

The Council of NYLA approved the program at their August 10, 2017 meeting, on the recommendation of the NYLA Sustainability Initiative Committee (NYLA-SI), to help realize the goals of the Council’s own Resolution on the Importance of Sustainable Libraries. That resolution, passed February 6, 2014, articulated the commitment by NYLA to “…enthusiastically encourage activities by its membership – and itself – to be proactive in their application of sustainable thinking in the areas of their facilities, operations, policy, technology, programming and partnerships.”

The Sustainable Library Certification Program’s cutting-edge benchmarking system is designed to help libraries improve their “triple bottom line” as environmental stewards, economically feasible institutions and as community leaders that place great stock in social equity.

“This initiative exemplifies the commitment of NYLA and our member libraries to community leadership,” said Barbara Stripling, President of the New York Library Association. “It is our willingness to take on important issues, and help our communities find solutions, that ensures that libraries will always be an integral part of our communities.”

Organizations that achieve Certification through this program will:

1. reinforce their roles as leaders in their communities
2. ensure that sustainability remains part of their library’s process and practice in the future and
3. receive recognition for their commitment to making their communities more resilient, while making their communities stronger

“NYLA is thrilled to serve as a conduit for this important work, bringing together the efforts and passions of the dedicated members of the Sustainability Initiative,” said Jeremy Johannessen, NYLA Executive Director. “This certification program serves as an important step in ensuring the long-term vitality of the libraries in our state.”

The Committee has worked to create and assess a custom process modeled on what has proven successful in other industries – from the business world (e.g. B Corporation certification), to the world of construction (e.g. Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification), to academia (e.g. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System). This tool fills the void in the library field.

The Sustainable Libraries Certification Program will be the first of its kind in the nation, if not the world. The program is designed to lead a library’s administration, board, and staff through a series of questions and activities that ultimately lead to creating a more sustainable, resilient, and regenerative library that is well positioned to help its community thrive.

Work a library will undertake to strengthen their organizational culture of sustainability through this program will include a variety of activities including an employee survey; policy development; data collection to benchmark resource usage; program design; and outreach efforts in your community. Technical assistance in completing the certification path will be provided.

This program is open to all public libraries in New York. There is a discounted rate structure through the end of 2017 for early adopters. Versions for the academic and school library community are currently in development.

To learn more please visit: www.nyla.org/sustainability

Subversive Librarians  |  Rebekkah Smith Aldrich  |  Library Journal  |  April 21, 2017

Overnight we went from a president who declared climate change as the single greatest threat to future generations to a president, and Senate, who appointed a climate change denier to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)… Read the full article here.

NYLA-SI Goes Zero Waste

Earlier this year the NYLA Sustainability Initiative Committee gathered at the NYLA headquarters in Guilderland, NY, to debrief from its inaugural year, process feedback received from the library community, and plan for the coming year.

When planning the event we went the extra mile to demonstrate what a “zero-waste” event could look like. A zero-waste event is one that reduces solid waste and captures any  recyclable and compostable materials such as cups, plates, and food scraps that are generated by the event in Zero-Waste stations.

Attendees were encouraged to bring their own refillable and reusable water bottles and their own coffee/tea receptacles. Organizers provided compostable plates, cutlery and several as cups – for those who forgot their water bottles

The event was eye opening from both the organizer and attendee perspective and surprisingly easy to do. It is interesting how small decisions can make a big impact.

Arming the Ramparts  |  Rebekkah Smith Aldrich  |  Library Journal  |  February 8, 2017

The sustainability of our world depends on a strong social fabric in local communities where people know and respect one another. This social fabric is key for resilient communities in the face of environmental, economic, and social disruption. That fabric is now torn in many places thanks to the vitriol and viciousness of the presidential election and fears about what will happen next… Read the full article here.

Deliberate Resilience  |  Rebekkah Smith Aldrich  |  Library Journal  |  December 8, 2016

Resilience: to bounce back after disruption. We’ve dealt with a lot of disruption as libraries and citizens in the past year. From a pretty insane presidential race to a major nationwide Internet outage caused by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that harnessed the Internet of Things to hurricanes, drought, and forest fires, we’ve got disruption in just about every sector of modern life… Read the full article here.