Librarians’ attitudes toward library’s roles in environmental sustainability

Abstract

The library community has been committed to environmental sustainability. The Green Library Movement calls for libraries to green their building, operation, and services. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) calls for libraries to actively contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in which environmental sustainability was one of the three aspects of sustainability in addition to social and economic sustainability. The American Library Association (ALA) has also added sustainability as one of the core values of librarianship. However, previous research identified a gap between librarians’ perceived importance of environmental sustainability and the actual practices adopted in their libraries that contribute to environmental sustainability. This current study focuses on examining librarians’ attitudes toward the roles of libraries in environmental sustainability advocated by IFLA and ALA by surveying librarians from California, Florida, and Georgia identified from the state library association listservs and the individual library websites. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analysis. Findings from this study will add to the understanding of the previously identified gap by comprehending the roles that librarians identify with regarding libraries’ contribution to environmental sustainability. The findings will also inform professional organizations on what support their members might need the most in promoting environmental sustainability in society and community. Lastly, the findings could inform curricular development for Library and Information Studies programs interested in preparing librarians with environmental awareness.

Keywords

academic libraries environmental literacy environmental sustainability GIS analysis libraries public libraries

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akbulut

Alaca

Büyükçolpan

, et al. (2018) Green (environmentalist) approaches to university libraries: a research across Turkey. Bilgi Dünyasi 19(2): 203–230.

Albertyn

Zinn

(2022) Green public libraries: Library users’ perspectives. Innovation 2022(64): 3–29.

Aldrich

Tanner

Antonelli

, et al. (2018) Report of the ALA special task force on sustainability. Available at: https://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/governance/ExecutiveBoard/ebd5_4_Task%20Force%20on%20Sustainability_Final%20Report_6.2018.pdf (accessed September 2020).

American Library Association (ALA) (2019) Core values of librarianship. Available at: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues (accessed September 2020)

Antonelli

(2008) The Green Library Movement: An overview and beyond. Electronic Green Journal 1(27): DOI: 10.5070/g312710757

Antonelli

McCullough

(eds) (2012) Greening Libraries. Los Angeles, CA: Library Juice Press, LLC.

Beutelspacher

Meschede

(2020) Libraries as promoters of environmental sustainability: Collections, tools and events. IFLA Journal 46(4): 347–358.

Devine

Appleton

(2023) Environmental education in public libraries. Library Management 44(1/2): 152–165.

Dias

(2017) Environmental sustainability for public libraries in Portugal: A first approach. Electronic Green Journal 1(40). DOI: 10.5070/g314029905

10.

Environmental Protection Agency (2016a) What climate change means for California. Available at: https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-ca.pdf

11.

Environmental Protection Agency (2016b) What climate change means for Florida. Available at: https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-fl.pdf

12.

Environmental Protection Agency (2016c) What climate change means for Georgia. Available at: https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-ga.pdf

13.

FEMA (2023) Declared disasters: Major disaster declaration. Available at: https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations (accessed March 2023).

14.

Florida Division of Library and Information Services (n.d.) Libraries. Florida Department of State. Available at: https://dos.myflorida.com/library-archives/research/florida-information/libraries/ (accessed September 2020).

15.

Frederiks

(2020) Assessing the contribution of public libraries to a more environmentally literate society: A case study of Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Bachelor Thesis, Utrecht University, Netherlands. Available at: https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/36770

16.

Georgia Public Library Service (n.d.) Georgia public library directors. Available at: https://georgialibraries.org/publiclibrarydirectors/ (accessed September 2020).

17.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2016) Access and opportunity for all: How libraries contribute to the United Nations 2030 agenda. Available at: https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/243 (accessed September 2020).

18.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2018) Exemplars, educators, enablers – Libraries and sustainability. Available at: https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/environmental-sustainability-and-libraries/documents/exemplars_educators_enablers.pdf (accessed September 2020).

19.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2022) Trend report – Update 2022. Available at: https://trends.ifla.org/update-2022 (accessed March 2023).

20.

Kang

(2018) Library directors’ concerns and attitudes towards going green and sustainability in China: An unexplored area. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 52(2): 382–398.

21.

Mathiasson

Jochumsen

(2022) Libraries, sustainability and sustainable development: A review of the research literature. Journal of Documentation 78(6): 1278–1304.

22.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2023) Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/ (accessed March 2023).

23.

Ren

(2022) Librarians’ attitudes toward providing environmental education services in Georgia. Georgia Library Quarterly 59(3): 8.

24.

Tribelhorn

(2023) Preliminary investigation of sustainability awareness and activities among academic libraries in the United States. Journal of Academic Librarianship 49(3): DOI: 10.1016/j.acalib.2022.102661

25.

United Nations (2015) Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda (accessed September 2020).