RA 11 : Greening the Library

The way I see it

Source:
Maria Anna Jankowska. The way I see it : A call for sustainable library operations and services: A response to ACRL’s 2007 environmental scan. C&RL News, June 2008 Vol. 69, No. 6.
URL:
http://www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2008/jun/sustainable.cfm. Retrieved September 30, 2009

Abstract:

Libraries especially the academic ones are being discarded in terms of environmental scanning. Piles of printed emails and unwanted books are being thrown out everyday. Old computers and technologies are being discarded and no serious accounting of what type and how much energy is used in academic libraries on a daily basis.

Three things I've Learned:

1. Libraries are being discarded in terms of environmental scanning

2. Academic libraries are ironic places of contradiction: environmental consumption within libraries is skyrocketing, but the very model of a library is built on sustainability.

3. The tradition of sustainability has been overshadowed as digitization, collection development, and providing adequate technologies have become core library missions.

Reflections:

In the library where I'm currently working, we practice the concept of greening the library. We exercise waste management wherein we separate the dry from the wet garbage. We also recycle paper wherein we use scratch papers for newspaper clippings that will be indexed. We also conserve energy especially electricity for air conditioners, lights and other appliances.