Greening Libraries - Environmental Sustainability Through Victorian Public Libraries and Beyond [slides]

ALIA National 2022 Conference, 16 May - 19 May 2022 Canberra: Diversity
 
Abstract: Our session will delve into what diverse Victorian public libraries are doing to support their community in environmental sustainability and how the UN Sustainable Development Goals can be applied in diverse ways, offering an exceptional framework to build sustainable practices into libraries. We will be sharing our project journey, including how we have set up a PLV Special Interest Group (SIG) on environmental sustainability to enable diverse vices, ideas and people to come together to add strength to initiatives and lead to stronger outcomes in sustainability efforts. The Public Libraries Victoria (PLV) Environmental Sustainability Special Interest Group (SIG) was established in September 2021 to bring together metropolitan and regional library professionals who are vocal and passionate about the role libraries can play in encouraging communities to become more environmentally sustainable. The SIG was proposed by members of the 2021 Shared Leadership Program facilitated by State Library Victoria and PLV, in response to identifying the need for libraries to support their communities to become more environmentally sustainable. The SIG meets quarterly and works to increase environmental sustainability efforts in libraries and move towards embedding the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) into daily practice. At the inaugural meeting on Monday 13 September 2021, there were fifteen members in attendance, representing 10 different Victorian library services. Two weeks on from this initial meeting, the SIG now has 18 members, representing 13 services. The team is deeply committed to ensuring a diverse lens continues to drive this vital sustainability work. Special Interest Group Purpose To share resources, contacts, and information to support members to engage with their communities in the area of environmental sustainability. To provide a forum for sharing ideas and promoting best practice in libraries. To provide training and development opportunities that increase public library staff knowledge in the area of environmental sustainability. To strengthen the profile of various libraries and their presence in the wider community. To advocate for the important role that libraries can play in environmental sustainability. We will also share our progress and upcoming plan for a resource portal for library staff to access a broad range of resources on sustainability.