SUSTAINABLE LIBRARIES INITIATIVE
Sustainable Libraries Initiative
Sustainable Libraries Initiative partners with the Iowa Library Association
Cultivating Library Leadership for community Resilience
In October 2023, the Executive Board of the Iowa Library Association announced that we were joining forces with the Sustainable Libraries Initiative to offer free memberships to all ILA members. In addition, libraries who decide to commit to the certification process will be offered a discount. In the November 2023 press release Julie Finch now ILA President stated …. “Financial stewardship of public funds, accessibility to materials, programs, and ideas, as well as making choices that support the environment where we all live and thrive. We are pleased to partner with SLI to offer better, focused actions and a path to help all Iowa Libraries lead their communities in new and better ways.
For Immediate Release
November 21, 2023
Sustainable Libraries Initiative partners with the Iowa Library Association
to cultivate library leadership for community resilience
New York – November 21, 2023 – The Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI) and the Iowa Library Association (ILA) are pleased to announce a new partnership to provide resources and tools to all ILA members that will enliven work in libraries to build communities that will forge ahead in the face of the challenges of climate change.
Sustainability as a Core Value
by Rebekkah Smith-Aldrich, MLS, LEED AP, co-founder of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative, and executive director of the Mid-Hudson Library System (NY)
As we think about the future of our libraries and how we, as library leaders, help to make a difference in the lives of our neighbors, we must confront the realities of climate change. No corner of the world will be left untouched by climate change. In 2019, The Lancet Countdown report, a widely respected publication in the medical community, noted that “The life of every child born today will be profoundly affected by climate change. Without accelerated intervention, this new era will come to define the health of people at every stage of their lives.”
Road Map to Sustainability
By Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Executive Director, Mid-Hudson Library System; Co-Founder & Advisory Board President, Sustainable Libraries Initiative; and author of Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World and Resilience
The Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI) provides library leaders, which we define as all library workers and trustees, with a proven path forward to co- create libraries and communities that will thrive in the coming years. The Sustainable Library Certification Program and the SLI community of practice focus your leadership to enable your library, and ultimately your community, to become more environmentally sound, socially equitable and economically feasible.
Thanks to your library association you can access a FREE 1-year membership to the SLI! (Read to the bottom of this article for instructions for how to access your free membership.)
