Partners for the Future: Public Libraries and Local - LibraryWorks.com

More documents

Recommendations

Info

3 Environmental Sustainability – Creating Green Communities “No single country or community can make a significant impact; but no significant impact can be made without every country and community doing its part.” Being Climate Smart in Boulder, City of Boulder, Colorado Sustainability has its roots in environmental preservation. For many local governments, the commitment to establish green goals was designed to preserve and protect the environment which in turn, broadened the sustainability focus. Local environmental sustainability goals are built around reducing energy consumption to meet defined targets, employing green land use planning and building practices, and engaging the community in environmental sustainability efforts. Public libraries support environmental sustainability goals by: • Modeling green practices in building and operations; • Serving as test centers for energy conservation innovation; 18 Urban Libraries Council Partners for the Future
• Engaging the community in supporting local environmental goals; and • Educating the public about environmental sustainability in general and local priorities in particular. The following sections provide examples of how public libraries and local governments are working together to achieve environmental sustainability goals. Modeling Green Practices Public libraries have embraced green building and green operations, working in close partnership with local governments. As more and more governments adopt green building policies and requirements, new public libraries have become models of creative design and measurable energy savings. Green roofs, solar panels, geothermal heating systems, on-demand water heating, glazed windows, skylights, and use of recycled materials throughout buildings are becoming the norm in today’s modern libraries. Library staff involvement through environmental committees, green teams, and individual leadership focus on green operations Partners for the Future and connect library operations to local government energy saving practices. What makes green building and operations in public libraries particularly valuable is their educational impact. Every visit to a green public library is a lesson learned about environmental construction and energy efficient operations. Tours of green roofs, kiosks telling the library’s green story, demonstrations of how solar panels on library buildings generate energy, and visible recycling activities raise awareness about the importance of collective community action to preserve environmental resources. Test Centers for Energy Conservation Innovation The Fayetteville Public Library and City of Fayetteville are working together to bring solar energy to market in the region. The library is considered the city’s laboratory. With a grant from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the Fayetteville team designed and installed 60 solar panels on the library’s roof to provide power to the library using a “The city of Fayetteville is on the cutting edge of exposing the broad role that public libraries can play in responding to community priorities. Their solar test bed project is clearly nontraditional for a library, but is important to their community.” Ron Carlee Chief Operating Officer and Director of Strategic Initiatives, International City/County Management Association commercially available inverter. As part of the research process, the library tested a highly efficient, state-of-the-art silicon converter developed by Arkansas Power Electronics International, a small local company that specializes in developing technology for electronic systems. The project has broad sustainability goals beyond 19 Urban Libraries Council
Page 1 and 2: Partners for the Future: Public Lib
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Executive Summary
Page 5 and 6: The research is built around the
Page 7 and 8: “Community sustainability is a ph
Page 9 and 10: coordinate actions; leveraging fede
Page 11 and 12: the library executive director part
Page 13 and 14: 2Economic Prosperity — Making Cit
Page 15 and 16: Sustained Reading Public libraries
Page 17 and 18: jobs. In a one-month period, 10 per
Page 19: community portal—MyHamilton.ca
Page 23 and 24: environmental sustainability goals
Page 25 and 26: Social Equity: Ensuring Equal 4Acce
Page 27 and 28: etween literacy and crime. Research
Page 29 and 30: esources, and focus on the positive
Page 31 and 32: from community partners to develop
Page 33 and 34: Leverage library capacities to supp
Page 35 and 36: Acknowledgements The Urban Librarie

Partners for the Future: Public Libraries and Local - LibraryWorks.com

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?