Environmental Benefits of Local Libraries

Wherever you live, it’s likely that you have a library somewhere nearby, or access to a mobile library service. The obvious purpose of libraries is to lend books to the general public, and they offer many other services and facilities too, such as internet connections, family and local history and adult learning courses. Providing books for borrowing is an environmentally friendly practice, because as multiple people borrow the same book rather than buying their own individual copy, less paper and other resources are used. However, there are also other ways in which local libraries benefit the environment, both in terms of services offered to the public and the way that the libraries themselves are run.

As libraries are managed by local councils, provisions can vary between areas. Information supplied through a request sent to libraries in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands between August 2011 and January 2012 reveals that some practices are common to the majority of libraries:

Use of mobile libraries (with regular reviews to minimise mileage) to reduce individual journeys made by people living in rural or remote areas
Provision of cycle stands to encourage sustainable travel
Stocking energy saving education resources
Stocking reference books relating to recycling
Loaning smart energy meters (for free, or a small charge)
Electronic, ink free self service machines
Online registration
Promoting council schemes such as loft insulation
Acting as a main or key distributor of recycling information
Selling books that have been withdrawn from library stock, rather than throwing them away
Use of energy saving light bulbs
Motion sensor controlled lighting
Recycling and reusing paper
Installing flow meters on taps
Recycling furniture within the council
Designing Libraries, of which CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, is a partner, is an information resource to aid library planning and design, with a specific energy efficiency and sustainable building section [1]
CILIP itself has a Green Pledge and is committed to minimising negative environmental impacts and substantially lowering its carbon footprint [2]

Other services and methods are common to some libraries but might not be available in others:

Using electric vehicles or those with enhanced environmentally friendly systems for mobile libraries
Printer cartridge recycling collection
Battery recycling collection
Plastic bag recycling collection
Providing hessian, jute or biodegradable bags
Home composting information exhibits and resources
General environmental and energy saving exhibitions and campaigns
Providing free e-books and audio books
Online and telephone services
Marking World Environment Day or holding specific Environment Days
Selling books that cannot be sold to the general public to organisations such as Betterworld or Revival Books, so that they are reused
Monitoring and transferring stock to maximise use
Recycling printer cartridges used in libraries
Staff teleconferencing and videoconferencing to reduce mileage to attend meetings
Facilitating staff home working
Nominating staff members as environmental/sustainability champions or green reps
Installing recycling bins
Using solar panels on library buildings

And several libraries reported that they offer facilities that may be unique to their area (although some of these things could be available in other libraries, but were not reported during this survey), for example:

Specific signing to environmental resources (Leicestershire)
Providing strong, durable paper bags made from recycled books (the “Bag for Lit”) for carrying books to and from the library [3], which are sturdy and big enough to use for other purposes too (Lancashire)
Running a garden project at the Community Library to produce compost [4] (Norfolk)
Running Master Composter courses [5] and advising Carbon Conservation courses (Norfolk)
Distributing recycling bags on behalf of the council (Luton)
Providing collection points for local charities for items such as jewellery and mobile phones (Suffolk)
Distributing leaflets from Eco-Active, the state of Jersey’s main environmental response (Jersey)
Participating in the Eco-Centres programme of Keep Britain Tidy (Worcestershire)
Installing energy meters in libraries (Norfolk)
Improving energy efficiency of library buildings, e.g. cavity insulation, roof insulation and energy efficient windows (Norfolk)
Using wood chip heating (West Sussex)
Sending books that can’t be sent to other libraries or sold to the public to an Energy from Waste plant (Jersey)

Libraries are open to suggestions from the public, and are generally keen to find out how they can improve their services, save money and make themselves useful to their users. Therefore any service that is provided by another library could be suggested to a local library by anyone who thinks that it might be useful in their area.

Acknowledgements and thanks are due to all library service employees who kindly responded to this email survey request with information about environmental practices and services in their area. Responses were received from libraries in England, Wales, Scotland and the Channel Islands.

[1] http://www.designinglibraries.org.uk/resources/toolkit/energy.php

[2] http://www.cilip.org.uk/about-us/Pages/cilip-green-pledge.aspx

[3] http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/?siteid=6189&pageid=36134

[4] http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/Environment/Waste_and_recycling/Composting/NCC063458

[5] http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/Environment/Waste_and_recycling/Composting/Master_Composters/index.htm