Sustainable Libraries

Where it works: Worldwide

What it does: Guides users through the process of making their library more sustainable and thereby more resilient through practices that are environmentally sound, economically feasible, and socially equitable.

Why we need it: The app is a tool for directors, trustees and staff at all levels, guiding users in establishing policies and practices, developing partnerships, and identifying resources to create a more sustainable library that will be both relevant and financially stable into the future.

Functionality: The app provides checklists, a notes feature, a news feed and shareability of content.

What is it: An application for smartphones that enables users to interact with the New York Library Association’s Sustainability Initiative’s Road Map publication.

How do you use it: Install the App and follow the map, working step-by-step toward the dual goals of a sustainable library and a sustainable community. There are many possible routes, and the roadmap will guide you. Feel free to explore, considering which path bests suits your library and community. Follow the links in depth, read the stories of sustainability accomplishments of other libraries. Examine your policies and those of others and then draft or update what you have in place. Incorporate sustainability into your budget and strategic planning, and set a long-term goal that your library will become a model of sustainability worthy of emulation and recognition in your community .

What benefits do you get: The roadmap will break down the tasks of becoming more sustainable into easy to paths. It will map out the “neighborhoods” of information. At each turn you will learn and gather information, compiling resources and ticking off accomplishments as you go. One step at a time, at your own pace, you will stay on the path to success. A sustainable library is fiscally responsible and stable; able to withstand the next budget cut, the next crisis, or the next technology revolution. The sustainable library has an empowered community behind it.

Why should this mobile app be important to you: You want to be ready for what comes next, we all do. Your days are full, with competing demands for your time. You have a job to do and creating a more sustainable library is just a small piece of it. You can’t fit another project into your day. But you can take a few minutes a day, while waiting for a bus or for your coffee to brew, to consider new questions and to take one more step to take towards making your library sustainable. It doesn’t matter if you are the custodian, the director, or a trustee, or whether you have years of experience or are just starting out. You will learn something and you will have something to share with others.