Celebrating Green Libraries Week

Green Libraries Week is an annual event for public and academic libraries in the UK, celebrating our support for climate and sustainability issues.  This year it runs from 27 October to 2 November.

This year’s theme is Seeds of Change — how libraries can plant ideas, support action, and help our university meet sustainability goals.  Here at Cranfield, library staff have been working with the University Green Team to find ways to make our libraries greener and more sustainable.

Here are a few things we already do, that you may not know about:

• We’ve stopped using plastic covers on the books we buy.
• When we remove books from our shelves (because a new edition has been published, or the book is no longer used, or has been damaged) these are re-sold or recycled – none of them go to landfill.
• Our libraries have a selection of bins, making it easy for you to recycle your rubbish more effectively.
• We have an Energy Champion who monitors our energy use at Kings Norton Library.
• We may have many PCs in our libraries, but the screens are set to shut off when not in use, and we have areas where lights are set to turn off when they are not needed.
• We also have a Sustainability Working Group that looks at developing other green library initiatives.
• We have signed the #GreenLibraries Manifesto. which means we have committed to a set of common principles, putting sustainability at the heart of our work and planning. It also enables us to have much greater impact by working together with other libraries, both nationally and internationally, than we can on our own.

How we help you to be more ‘green’

If you are borrowing books from your library (rather than buying new), you’re already saving CO2.

Want to find out what else you can do here at Cranfield?

You can find out more about what is happening around the University at ‘Our sustainable university’.

University staff can complete a CUTE course – there are several with an environmental theme, including Environmental Awareness: A Global Outlook – whilst students have a Canvas course – Environmental Awareness on campus induction – and can also get involved with the CSA Green Team.

Want to find out more on the topic?

Library Services has a wealth of information about sustainability and green issues. You can search our resources if there is something you are particularly interested in learning more about, but here’s our top ten sustainability resources to get you started (in no particular order!):

1. GreenFILE – EBSCO research database covering topics from global warming to recycling to alternate fuel sources and beyond.
2. ENDS Report – database available for customers based at Cranfield campus and MKU. It covers environmental policy and business. The site includes a database, updated daily, of current UK legislation, plus consultation papers, regulatory guidance and official reports. Register for an individual account at https://www.endsreport.com/register to use the additional functionality: e-journal, bulletins, special reports, guest access to ENDS Compliance policy library.
3. Not the end of the world: how we can be the first generation to build a sustainable planet (audiobook). Print copies also available at Kings Norton Library.
4. Climate Change Laws of the World
5. Passport Voice of the Industry: Sustainability Survey (2024) – report bringing together insights from Euromonitor’s Voice of the Industry survey, which tracks how businesses define, manage and communicate sustainability, in addition to insights from Sustainability Claims Tracker, which shows how companies use product claims to communicate sustainability with consumers (to access from here, you may need to use Institutional Login, then Choose Cranfield University, then re-use the link)
6. Sustainability Magazine – “Sustainability Magazine connects the leading sustainability and ESG executives of the world’s largest brands”
7. Free sources of Sustainability and Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) information – Cranfield blog post
8. There is no Planet B: a handbook for the make or break years (eBook – for full access, click Institution Login in top right, choose Cranfield University, and ‘Continue to Login’)
9. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education – A peer-reviewed journal that publishes research and practice on sustainability in higher education.
10. Digital sustainability in tertiary education: trends, challenges, and sector insights – Jisc report exploring the fundamentals of digital sustainability, using both existing literature and direct engagements with JISC members to identify key trends and challenges within the university and college sector.

We have also created a Green Reads reading list with a wide selection of material which you can access through our Library Services subscriptions.  And if you visit our libraries during this week, you’ll see we have a display highlighting more of the libraries’ green resources for you.

Watch out for Green Week starting on 14 November, where University-wide activities raise awareness of green issues and ask for your help to maintain a sustainable environment in and around the University’s Cranfield campus.

If you’ve got any questions please get in touch, and do keep an eye out for more sustainability initiatives and information from us in the future.

 

Image by Mystic Art Design from Pixabay