Certified Sustainable
by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MLS, LEED AP
Rebekkah is the executive director of the Mid-Hudson Library System and currently serves as the President of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative Advisory Board and Chair of the American Library Association’s Council Committee on Sustainability. Rebekkah is a frequent, international presenter on the topic of sustainability and libraries, has authored three books on the topic, and writes Library Journal’s sustainability column.
The Sustainable Libraries Initiative is excited to share that we have certified our 10th public library and first school librarian through the award-winning Sustainable Library Certification Program.
The certification program, the first of its kind in the world for libraries, helps library leaders tackle what has proven to be a massive challenge: how to run our libraries and develop strategies that combat climate change while building community resilience.
The program provides a methodology for helping a library build, buy-in, and make progress on the topics surrounding sustainability in their organization using the triple bottom line definition of sustainability, shown below. The goal of the work is to influence the mindset of library leaders to ensure as we make decisions, large and small, that we do so through this framework of considering not only the traditional bottom line, the cost of a decision, but also the environmental and social impact of a decision.
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gh this methodology the program addresses issues of not only sustainability but library and community resilience and the concept of regenerative libraries - libraries that are serving as not only a passive model of best practices but a catalyst for good things in the community.
For public libraries, there are twelve categories of action (listed below), and in each category there are required and recommended actions. When you're getting started there is some work to do to help administration and the board understand the topic at a deeper level; policy adoption so you can move forward with implementing changes in purchasing, building operation, and personnel. As you move through the other categories the tasks are more micro than macro, focusing in on things like energy consumption, landscaping, food waste, disaster planning, collection and programming choices.
Image source: Sustainable Libraries Initiative
Categories:
Getting Started
Outdoor Spaces
Indoor Spaces
Transportation
Energy
Water
Materials
Collective Impact
Social Cohesion
Resilience Planning
Financial Sustainability
Collections
In the recent book from ALA Editions, Library and Sustainability: Programs and Practices for Community Impact, three library leaders who have helped lead their libraries through the program shared their experiences. The Lindenhurst Memorial Library (LML), featured in the chapter, had a number of successes during the certification process, including solving a major problem that had existed: no affordable option for recycling. Through the program they forged a new partnership with their village, which now picks up their paper and plastic recycling at no cost. By eliminating paper and cardboard from their waste stream, the library immediately achieved a 45%–55% weekly reduction in the amount of trash discarded.
Lisa G. Kropp, director of the library discussed how the program helped them introduce new programs such as a community vegetable garden that enabled them to give away 140 pounds of produce in its first year! In an article for American Libraries, Lisa commented on the impact of certification program on their staff as they navigated the COVID-19 experience, noting, “I’m convinced that because our library was involved in sustainable work over the past two years, we were ready to bounce back from this social disruption—and show our grit and resiliency in the face of adversity.”
Part of the LML's Great Give Back Team who helped clean up Venetian Shores in 2021.
The certification program for public libraries is now open to libraries nationally and recently announced that the San Diego County Public Library, serving more than 1.4 million residents, has joined as the first west coast participant.
All library folks are welcome to sign up for the Sustainable Libraries Initiative’s monthly newsletter and download the Road Map to Sustainability mobile app at no charge: https://sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org/resources/professional-development/roadmap. Check out the Resources list and newsletter archive for more stories from libraries in the program, there is so much we can learn from these folks!
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