Thanks to a municipal bond and strong local support, however, in 2017 the library had the opportunity to construct a new building that was not only modern but also environmentally friendly. At the heart of the design is a rooftop with 700 solar panels, which elevated the project to net-zero energy status. That means the … Continue reading The Net-Zero Revolution
That’s when Garmon, then a civic engagement specialist at Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library, first thought, “We need a space to talk about the feelings related to climate change.” Garmon researched ways patrons in her own community could share their emotions about the environment and discovered the work being done by Sami Aaron, founder of … Continue reading Climate Connection
Most people would be fired for bringing a box of bees to work. But not coauthor Taren Urquhart, West Vancouver (B.C.) Memorial Library’s (WVML) arts and special events programmer and resident insect enthusiast. Urquhart has been caring for bees in her backyard for more than 25 years and maintains a colony of Blue Orchard mason … Continue reading Generating Buzz
“When I was a kid, my great-aunt was the buyer at [famous New York bridal boutique] Kleinfeld’s, so I used to go over and look at all the dresses,” she says. “Other people were buying Seventeen; I was buying Brides.” Decades later, Puccio’s passion now manifests itself in a rotating collection of vintage and modern … Continue reading Bookend: The Wedding Dress Whisperer
At the time, we each were working independently on similar, smaller projects within BUL’s Science Library, like using a small area to feature some of the library’s sustainability resources and research happening on campus, as well as providing meeting spaces for sustainability-focused student clubs. But we recognized we could think bigger. In 2020, we received … Continue reading Growth Report
Our mid-size Midwestern public library thought: Why not develop an award to honor excellent titles that buck this trend? In 2022, Evanston (Ill.) Public Library (EPL) announced the inaugural recipients of its Blueberry Awards. These awards, the first of their kind in the library world, recognize and elevate fiction and nonfiction books that teach children … Continue reading Nurturing Nature
Training and operating AI tools like large language models, for instance, require substantial computational power. Generating one image could use as much energy as charging an average smartphone, according to a 2023 study by AI developer Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the first study of its kind to measure the carbon and … Continue reading Assessing AI
Information for Sustainable Development: Technology, People, and Society By G. G. Chowdhury and Sudatta Chowdhury Sustainability is a worldwide endeavor, and the participation of information professionals in its achievement is front and center in this book. The authors parse out the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and explain that the sharing of data and … Continue reading Sustainable Efforts
Hewitt C. Wells, the library’s architect, wanted to build it in a park. When that plan fell through, he decided to build “a park in the library,” Ryan says. Completed in 1966, it won the 1968 Industrial Landscape Award (presented by Lady Bird Johnson) and was named to the National Register of Historic Places in … Continue reading Bookend: Lushness in the Library
When school lets out, children gravitate to public libraries. Meanwhile, libraries strive to help those children maintain or improve their reading and critical-thinking skills throughout those school-free months, often by way of summer reading programs. At Montgomery County (Md.) Public Libraries (MCPL), we have redesigned our summer reading challenge in hopes of inspiring our young … Continue reading A Greener Way to Read
First, American Libraries Managing Editor Terra Dankowski pays a visit to the Sulzer Regional branch of Chicago Public Library, which hosts a repair café every month. At these events, participants bring household items in need of mending to the library. Volunteers with toolkits fix the items, sparing them from the landfill. Next, members of ALA’s … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Sustainability Strategies
75% Percentage of recycled material required for each item featured in Mattapoisett (Mass.) Free Public Library’s RE-ART show, held in September 2023. Among the pieces local artists submitted: a robe constructed with upcycled quilts and a purse made from a vintage book. 1,000 Number of volunteers who support the annual book sale hosted by Friends … Continue reading By the Numbers: Recycling
