Libraries as promoters of environmental sustainability: Collections, tools and events

Abstract

Striving for a balance between economic development and environmental protection is an ambitious goal requiring sufficient information on the part of all actors. Public libraries can play an important role in acting as promoters of knowledge on environmental sustainability. The researchers analysed the status of German public libraries and their efforts towards a sustainable society. We considered the libraries’ collections and created a questionnaire, asking librarians to evaluate the current situation in their library. The results show that many libraries promote environmental sustainability by highlighting books and other media on several subtopics through special conventions or shelves. Energy meters were the most frequently mentioned tools provided to sensitize to the topic. Furthermore, libraries organize several information events. Therefore, partnerships with other organizations and schools are of utmost importance. Beside these efforts, there is still more potential to promote environmental sustainability. Often, the lack of budget and personnel poses a challenge.

The Landscapes of Sustainability in the Library and Information Science: Systematic Literature Review

“…It is also emphasized in the subject literature that libraries of this type, i.e., certified ones, are carrying messages to the public, and they are doing this by displaying the best architectural practices in the area of sustainable design, but also in the sphere of social and cultural sustainability [32]. Some authors remark further that libraries still could do more to promote the environmental dimension of sustainable development, e.g., they could provide (borrow) equipment and tools that are meant to help users in controlling their electricity consumption level (i.e., energy meters), or even garden tools, lawn mowers, plant seeds, musical instruments, or bicycles [14,19]. All of this is still situated within libraries' potential for promoting and acting in favor of exigent sustainability issues in the real world.…”

“…A more constricted glance at the sustainability of library collections, but also at other library-related factors, was presented by Beutelspacher and Meschede [19]. Their main concern is environmental sustainability and the means through which a library can contribute to promoting knowledge on environmental protection and environmentally sustainable development.…”

“…The most powerful mean, in view of the authors' analysis, seem to be a library offer itself, provided that the offer would be focused on the sustainability subject, and would also be presented in a unique and more sophisticated way than usual, e.g., through encouraging shelves arrangement, exhibitions, special events, social media, etc. The authors argue that it would certainly raise general awareness on sustainability and its subtopics, as well as the sensitization of the public ( [19], see also: [16]). The sheer need for materials concerning sustainability issues that exist within any library's collection, including technical libraries, is the result of the vast interdisciplinarity of the sustainability concept (see, e.g., [49]).…”

“…The environmental pillar is reflected in the library space planning courses, as well as in the materials control matter, which is a part of the broader library buildings planning theory. The social pillar is then included within studies of more marketing-oriented aspects of LIS management, such as leadership, quality improvement, visibility of the key sustainability message directed towards the public (e.g., means of promotion and popularization of certain ideas), and the recognition of motivational incentives that are capable of catching one's attention and stimulating his or her behavior [52] (see also: [19]). Whereas it is possible to incorporate the sustainability concept into undergraduate curricula, because students are more prone to adopt the sought behavioral changes before they enter a graduate program, there is also an alternative of integrating sustainability into masters-level courses or even into all the courses required to accomplish a degree.…”

“…The Talloires Declaration has also pushed libraries to introduce new services, e.g., educational outreach programs intended for the broad public [16,17], see also: [14,18]. The IFLAs' Statement on Libraries and Sustainable Development, issued in 2002, can presumably be seen as a continuation of the diffusion of sustainability ideas beyond their place of origin, and as a mark of the ongoing penetration of the whole LIS subject field by them, at the same time [19]. The same can be said about the 2016 IFLA International Advocacy Programme (IAP), whose aim is to support and instruct librarians how to promote and achieve SDGs within their own nearest, private, or vocational surroundings [7].…”