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The Blue Marble Librarians is a network of Massachusetts library workers committed to climate change resilience and community building.
History
Sept. 2018 - Chris Glass, Research Services Librarian at Boston Public Library (BPL) hosted a Climate Prep Week event, “Librarians, Climate Change and Community Resilience.” He invited Madeleine Charney, Research Services Librarian at UMass Amherst to facilitate part of the program. She had recently presented a series of workshops in all six New England states to provide librarians with the confidence and skills to facilitate community conversations about climate change. In attendance at the BPL event was Aaron Troncoso, Volunteer Engagement Coordinator for Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW), the group behind Climate Prep Week.
Oct. 2018 - Impressed with librarians’ passion around climate change matters, Aaron asked Chris and Madeleine to consider how libraries could play a continued role in CREW activities. Chris and Madeleine invited Michelle Eberle, Massachusetts Library System to a meeting with Aaron and Craig Altemose, Executive Director of CREW. The outcome was the idea of Massachusetts libraries partnering with CREW for Climate Prep Week 2019.
May 2019 - Chris, Madeleine, and Michelle convened an all-day meeting at Lamar Soutter Library, UMass Medical. In attendance were librarians CJ Wong (Merrimack College), Ayoola White (Simmons LIS student, who attended the 2018 BPL event), Heather Diaz (Forbes Library), Gabrielle Griffis (Wellfleet Library), Catherine Carr and Jessica Kilham (UMass Medical).
At a recent civic engagement presentation, Michelle had given each of her attendees a blue marble inspired by a presentation she attended at the American Evaluation Association Conference about Blue Marble Evaluation. Her idea was to encourage “blue marble librarianship” -- focusing on global sustainability* If you’re not familiar, the Blue Marble is the first image of the Earth taken by Apollo 17, which generated great awe and reverence for the planet. With a surplus of marbles in her possession, she handed everyone at the UMass Medical meeting their own blue marble and the Blue Marble Librarians were officially born!
Publications featuring the Blue Marble Librarians
Leadership Team (2024-2025):
Founding Members: