Greening the Library

Title: Greening the Library: Collection Development Decisions

Author: Virginia Connell

Journal Title: The Journal of the New Members Round Table

URL: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/nmrt/oversightgroups/comm/schres/endnotesvol1is1/3greeningthelibrary.pdf

Abstract

Many writers in the library literature have addressed sustainability of the collection with regard to increased prices, user need, and format stability. To this list of concerns librarians should add the environmental impact on the different resources libraries choose. This article considers three facets of collection development: selection of materials whose content informs and assesses green practices; de-selection processes that emphasize reusing and recycling materials; and selection of a material format, specifically print or electronic, that honors the green dictum to reduce the carbon footprint an institution makes. The problem of reducing a library's carbon footprint is perhaps the most complex and most contentious when it comes to the format of the collection. It is on the issue of print versus electronic resources that the present discussion of environmental sustainability will devote most of its focus (Conell).

Three things I learned from the article:

1. The librarians should educate themselves about green practices, green collection resources, and green programming materials. They should practice the components of green movement, the reuse and recycle.

2. According to Connell, the ways to build up the green collections in the libraries are: to provide open forums for green book clubs and facilities for environmental video viewings or lecture presentations; create opportunities for children to get excited about ecology, such as poster competitions or poetry sound-offs; select collection materials on organic gardening and composting or green computing and energy conservation; set library computer links and bookmarks to environmental issues sites; forge outreach relationships with local groups interested in environmental concerns and inquire about their information needs; and last, work with local schools to support green curriculum and projects, such as murals or models of eco-systems.

3. In weeding the garden, multi-media waste products are the most difficult to recycle and hard to dispose. Examples of multi-media product are: CDs, DVDs, cassettes, audiobooks, VHS tapes, and all products with plastic cases.

Application/Implication of what I've learned to my work/to me as a person:

To be a good environmental steward, one should recognize that natural resources are valuable and limited. And, all of us should help the future generations to have a healthy planet to live. We should think on how we can reuse and recycle the things that we have.