Since the beginning of the 1990s, libraries have been undertaking a number of activities aimed at minimizing their negative impact on the environment. Those that show such activity are called ‘green libraries’. This term appears in scientific, professional and popular science literature, but its definitions are vague and ambiguous. A preliminary analysis of the content of publications dealing with the issue of green libraries shows a modest representation of theoretical and synthetic texts. This article aims to fill this gap. It has three goals: (1) clarification of the term ‘green library’, (2) conceptualization of the term ‘green librarianship’ and (3) determination of ‘green librarianship’ areas. To achieve them, first, an analysis of the environmental discourse on green libraries and green librarianship in library science literature was performed to abstract green library indicators. Then, these indicators were verified. The selection of the sample for research was deliberate. The materials were collected using the Library, Information Science & Technology Abstract (LISTA) bibliographic and abstract database. As a result, the number of green library indicators has been extended, which has made it possible to clarify the definition of this term. The definition of ‘green librarianship’ was then formulated, and the areas of green librarianship were indicated. Conceptualization of the terms ‘green library’ and ‘green librarianship’ constitutes the value of this article. The practical implication of the study is the expansion of the number of green library indicators. These indicators can be used to develop a codebook for the content analysis of documents in the discussed area. This article may also contribute to the development of methods for the evaluation of activities and development of green libraries.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain the concepts related to environmental education in the context of sustainable development, to indicate the links between them as well as to identify and organize elements of library activities that have the potential to implement environmental education.Design/methodology/approachThe method of analysis and criticism of scientific and professional literature and research reports was used. The multiple case study method was also used.FindingsAn analysis of literature and multiple case studies confirms the assumption that sustainable development is now a new paradigm of librarianship. Among the goals of sustainable development are environmental goals, which in libraries can be achieved through environmental education. A broad approach to environmental education has been proposed, which is implemented not only by using library services but also by building green collections, contacts with environmentally involved librarians, using ecological library infrastructure, observing sustainable management methods in libraries, cooperation between the library and the external environment in terms of the natural environment.Research limitations/implicationsAn analysis of 20 case studies was carried out regarding the implementation of pro-environmental measures in libraries. Examination of a larger number of case studies would probably give a more complete picture of this area of activity in libraries. The next stage of research should be the development of standards/guidelines in the field of environmental education in libraries, and then the development of methods and techniques for assessing the quality of library activities in this area and methods for assessing the impact of libraries on society and the environment in the field of environmental education.Practical implicationsThe paper indicates – based on case study analyses – those library elements that have potential in the field of environmental education. They were ordered in categories that were assigned to the three main components of a library: people, artefacts and processes.Social implicationsSustainable development is a new library paradigm. The paper focuses on the environmental area, specifically environmental education. It has been recognized that libraries have considerable potential for environmental education and should be seen as socially responsible organizations that take responsibility for the impact of their decisions and actions on society and the environment.Originality/valueThe paper explains the basic concepts of environmental education and the relationships between them. It defines the area of environmental education in libraries in terms of library activity elements that can be used to organize them according to the three main components of a library, which are people, artefacts and processes. The paper also indicates that sustainable development should be treated as a new paradigm of librarianship, and environmental education as a new research field of library and information science.

PurposeThe objective of the article is to determine the numerical increase in publications on green libraries and the dynamics of its development as well as to determine the thematic structure of the scientific literature in the field of green libraries and its changes as a representation of research in this area.Design/methodology/approachThe research material consisted of publications on green libraries published between 1991 and 2020, indexed in the Web of Science database. The bibliometric method was used to determine the numerical increase in publications on green libraries and the dynamics of its development. In order to characterize the thematic structure of publications representing research in this area, content analysis was performed.FindingsQuantitative analysis of the literature on green libraries has shown that this is a new area of research not explored with constant intensity. The time of publishing materials on green libraries can be divided into two periods: the so-called period of first publications between 1991 and 2006, and the period between 2007 and 2020, when the number of publications increased relatively systematically. The content analysis confirmed the hypothesis that the most frequent theme is the issue of a green building and its management. It showed that the period after 2010 is the time of building a theoretical framework for a new research field, i.e. green libraries.Originality/valueThe main value of the article is the performance of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the scientific literature indexed in the Web of Science devoted to green libraries, from the moment of the first publications to the present day. The codebook developed for the needs of content analysis can constitute the basis for the development of criteria for the evaluation of green libraries and guidelines for their organization.

PurposeThe library community is considerably active in environmental issues, but the body of scientific and professional literature in the library and information science (LIS) related to environmental issues is growing slowly. The author attempts to indicate the reasons for the still-low interest in the issue of green libraries on a global scale by pointing to barriers in the development of the green libraries concept in both theoretical and practical dimensions.Design/methodology/approachThe desk research method was used in this study.FindingsBarriers to the development of the green libraries concept include an ambiguous definition of green libraries, a lack of guidelines for green libraries, a lack of criteria for evaluating green libraries, insufficient dissemination of the essence and goals of environmental education, a lack of developed tools for monitoring progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an environmental aspect at a national level and insufficient integration of environmental topics in LIS curricula at the higher-education level.Originality/valueAlthough, since the 1990s, the body of literature on sustainable development from an environmental perspective has been growing, LIS researchers' activities do not reflect the importance of this issue. The originality of the article lies in the indication of the reasons for the still-low interest in environmental issues in LIS literature. To date, this issue has not been discussed in the literature.

Streszczenie: Koncepcja zrównoważonego rozwoju cieszy się coraz większym zainteresowaniem. Znalazła także zastosowanie w bibliotekarstwie, a co za tym idzie, począwszy od lat 90. XX w. zaczęła być przedmiotem światowej literatury fachowej i naukowej. W artykule zdefiniowano pojęcie biblioteki ekologicznej i biblioteki zrównoważonej. Dokonano charakterystyki -przy braku polskiej literatury -piśmiennictwa zagranicznego dotyczącego zrównoważonego rozwoju w bibliotekarstwie. Zaprezentowano konteksty, w jakich pojawia się zagadnienie zrównoważonego rozwoju w odniesieniu do bibliotek.Słowa kluczowe: bibliotekarstwo, biblioteki, bibliotekoznawstwo, ekologia, zrównoważony rozwój. Wprowadzenie Biblioteki zawsze wchodziły w interakcje z otoczeniem, reagując na zachodzące w nim zmiany. W latach 70. i 80. ubiegłego wieku zaobserwowano wzrost zainteresowania problematyką zrównoważonego rozwoju. W konsekwencji, począwszy od lat 90. minionego stulecia, w literaturze bibliotekoznawczej i bibliotekarskiej zaczęły pojawiać się teksty odnoszące się do ekologicznych bibliotek, troski o środowisko naturalne oraz koncepcji zrównoważonego rozwoju w bibliotekach akademic-