Library Service Blog

Green Libraries Week 7-13 October: Every Library a Green Library

Introduction

Libraries Week is an annual showcase and celebration of the best that libraries have to offer and each year a theme is chosen to explore the innovative and surprising things that libraries are doing to support their communities.

This year's Libraries Week is focusing on Green Libraries which celebrates the ongoing work in libraries across the UK focusing on sustainability and climate change.

You can find out more about Libraries Week here.

The Green Libraries Partnership

The Green Libraries Partnership was developed by Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals [CILIP] in response to COP26 and the long-term climate commitments made by libraries and local authorities across England. We have signed up to the Green Libraries Manifesto.

Libraries week at Sheffield University Library

We’ve gathered together resources across our entire collection including books, articles and recordings to create our Climate Emergency Collection and we’re inviting you to jump in and explore, read and discover what’s inside.

The collection is divided into five themes reflecting the myriad aspects of the climate emergency.

• Climate science - climatology, extreme weather and natural disasters, greenhouse gases and control of, habitat loss and ecological damage.

• Sustainability - includes areas such as architecture and urban planning, transport and logistics, farming and food, manufacturing, renewable energy and energy efficiency, retail and business.

• Sustainable living - resources on ways to reduce personal and societal environmental impact.

• Climate change - artistic responses - contains literature, visual arts and film, and television responses to climate change.

• Climate change - political responses - includes government and international policy, activism and climate change disinformation.

Our picks

We've chosen a small selection to get you started, these books are a good starting point in anyone's journey to understand the climate emergency and take action to make meaningful changes.

Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe
Hayhoe argues that when it comes to changing hearts and minds, facts are only one part of the equation. We need to find shared values in order to connect our unique identities to collective action. This is not another doomsday narrative about a planet on fire. It is a multi-layered look at science, faith, and human psychology, from an icon in her field—recently named chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy.

How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present and Future by Vaclav Smil
This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check - because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.

What Climate Justice Means and Why We Should Care by Elizabeth Cripps
Philosopher Elizabeth Cripps approaches climate justice not just as an abstract idea but as something that should motivate us all. Using clear reasoning and poignant examples, starting from irrefutable science and uncontroversial moral rules, she explores our obligations to each other and to the non-human world, unravels the legacy of colonialism and entrenched racism, and makes the case for immediate action.

How to Save Our Planet: The Facts by Professor Mark Maslin
An important book for anyone who wants to learn more about the climate emergency and what action we can take. Professor Mark Maslin has the key facts that we need to protect our future. Global awareness of climate change is growing rapidly and science has proven that our planet and species are facing a massive environmental crisis. How to Save Our Planet is a call to action, guaranteed to equip everyone with the knowledge needed to make change.

Read, watch, learn and be informed

We encourage you to explore the collection and learn for yourself about the climate emergency the world is facing. You can also recommend to us a resource which you think should be part of the Climate Emergency Collection, you can do so by filling in this form.

And finally, as Professor Mark Maslin said to us when he visited: