How Green is my library ? In Search of Sustainability…

Dr. Sabuj Kumar ChaudhuriAssistant Professor

DLIS, University of Calcutta

What do we understand by ‘Green’?

3 R’s of Sustainability…

Scanning literatures

Wiliam Blade (1880) mentioned fire, water, gas and heat, dust, ignorance and bookbinders as Enemies of Books that are still relevant.

James and Suzanne LeRue in “The Green Librarian” (1991) explained in detail how to be environmentally supportive at home and in the library.

Greening Libraries (Antonelli and McCullough, 2012) focussed on important aspects of the growing green library movement.

Why should we go green ?Sustainability in every aspects of

our activities is the biggest challenge of our times.

Opting practical sustainability through its choice and actions

Giving leadership and spreading the message of environmentalism

Application of Green Concept in the Library

I opine in 3 aspects we can implement green Concept in the Library.

Green Building

Green Resources

Green Services including green preservation

Green Building

Disaster resilient & energy efficient architecture

Following issues need to be addressed for making our library green and sustainable:

Site SelectionBuilding Form & orientationBuilding materialsInsulationVentilation

Contd…

Reducing Energy Green Technologies Indoor Air Quality Painting, coating, carpeting and

cleaning agents Green Roof Zoning Water Conservation Waste management Cleaning

Green Resources

Go digital resources in order to avoid bio-deterioration of print resources.

Philosophically contradicting Make a judicious balance

between these two.

Green Services

From acquisition to procuring From Technical processing to

indexing/abstracting From Book requisition to issuing

books/journals All kind of information services must

be done through digital means using networks energized through green energy

Green Standards

LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) by the US Green Building Council

Certified (40-49 points), Silver (50-59 points), Gold (60-79 points) and Platinum (80 and above points).

IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) Green Logo from Ministry of

Environments & Forest

Let’s have a look…

GREEN LIBRARY…

Green Library in Taiwan

ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND TECHNOLOGIES (EST)

EST

Let us Start…

Green engineer Glen Whisler suggested few steps that could be useful (Trotter, 2008):

Start small Start early Work as a team Hold sustainability Be prepared to document everything. Don't over think the process-just do it. It

will be a learning experience, like anything else.

Roads Ahead…

Library is socially responsive institution

Not the economic but change in our mindset can facilitate green library

Library is quite capable enough to give environmental leadership by choosing the right options.

Let us respond with right options to make the library as the greenest zone on earth.

References

Blades, W. (1880). Enemies of Books. London: Tribner and Co. Glass, N., & Webster, G. (2012, March 8). Ancient 'air-conditioning' cools building sustainably.

Retrieved May 7, 2014, from http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/28/world/asia/ancient-air-conditioning-architecture/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

J. Yates, J. (2012). Abundance on Trial: The Cultural Significance of “Sustainability”. The Hedgehog Review, 14(2), 8-25.Retrieved December 12, 2014,from http://iasc-culture.org/THR/archives/Summer2012/Yates_lo.pdf

LeRue, James and Suzanne LeRue. (1991 February). The green librarian. Wilson Library Bulletin, 65, 27-33.

Mathews, G., Smith, Y., & Dolan, G. (2009). Disaster Management in Archives, Libraries and Museums. London: Ashgate.

McCullough, M. (2012). Introduction. In A. Monica (Ed.), Greening Libraries. CA: Library Juicy Press. Miller, K. (2010). The Library's Green Role. In Public libraries going green. Chicago: ALA. Mohan, V. (2015, January 1). Logo to mark out green buildings. The Times of India (Kolkata), p. 8. Monica, A. (2008). The Green Library Movement: An Overview and Beyond. Electronic Green

Journal, 1(27). Retrieved July 9, 2014, from https://green.nd.edu/assets/24828/escholarship_uc_item_39d3v236.pdf

Nelson, M., & Vucetich, J. (2012). Sustainability Science: Ethical foundations and emerging challenges. Nature, 3(10).

Statement on Libraries and Sustainable Development. (2002, August 24). Retrieved April 3, 2014, from http://www.ifla.org/publications/statement-on-libraries-and-sustainable-development

Waterfill Trotter, D. (2008). Going for the Green. American Libraries, 39(4), 40-43. Wilson, G. A. (2012). Towards a Framework for understanding Community Resilience .Community

Resilience and Environmental Transitions. New York: Routledge.

Thank You