The Library as a Campus Sustainability Champion

Library collaboration with other campus departments is a key method of cultivating and demonstrating value, both in terms of fruitful connections and increased impact. A library collaboration with the campus sustainability office accomplishes this task, and helps to promote a cause that is important to the entire campus community. This poster will explore how collaborative projects between the library and campus sustainability officer resulted in the increase in the library’s status as a champion of innovative and important initiatives, the opportunity to work with students to accomplish projects, and the chance to make a positive difference in the world. Initiatives included creating a library sustainability committee, co-authoring a grant to add plastic bag recycling to the library, switching to compostable dinnerware for library celebrations, creating a large-scale library display for Earth Month, and working with custodial staff to change the ratio and placement of recycling and garbage bins in the library. Even these modest efforts have increased the library’s profile and allowed library staff to contribute their efforts to a meaningful initiative. This poster will be especially useful for libraries that are looking to get started incorporating some sustainability topics into their outreach and programming efforts.