Please find below resources from the library sector that support climate action. Feel free to make use of these resources and consider letting the committee know about your own work. We are always looking for new initiatives to support and promote.
Recognition & Awards
- West Vancouver Memorial Library Climate Future Initiative won the 2023 Eureka Award from BCLA
Events
- Climate Action Week (hosted by BCLA for Canadian libraries and GLAM organizations)
- Climate Preparedness Week
- Open Access Week 2022: Open for Climate Justice
Library Associations
- BC Library Association Climate Action Committee
- Ontario Library Association Climate Action Committee
- CFLA Climate Action Committee
- IFLA: Environment, Sustainability, and Libraries Section
- California Library Association Climate Justice Interest Group
- ALA Council Committee on Sustainability
- ALA IRRT International Sustainable Library Development Interest Group
- ALA Sustainability Round Table (SustainRT)
- ALA Task Force on United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
Resources & Initiatives
Please consider adding resources to the Library Toolshed for others to access and reuse. To improve findability use the “Climate Action” tag.
- BCLA Climate Action Statement: Essential Climate Justice Responsibilities in the Library Sector (2024)
- Climate Action Week Ideas and Resources and example resources and programs from Participating Libraries
- Read4Climate – Rack card and poster designs promoting the many ways libraries can support readers and communities to respond to the climate crisis. Libraries can print and share locally. Created by Fraser Valley Regional Library in partnership with the BC Climate Action Committee and Ontario Climate Action Committee.
- Open Climate Campaign – A partnership between Creative Commons, SPARC, and EIFL to promote open access to research to accelerate progress towards addressing the climate crisis and preserving global biodiversity.
- Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI) – Created by the New York Library Association and includes member libraries from across the US. Includes a Certificate Program for libraries and additional resources.
- ALA / SLI National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries – background on climate change and direction for implementing action.
- ALA Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change – Programming resources for libraries
- Green New Deal for Archives (2023) by Eira Tansey
- Collection Development and Reading Lists – List maintained by the Ontario Library Association Climate Action Committee
- Resources for the Sustainable California Library Projects grant recipients (useful for other libraries as well)
- IFLA Green Library Award
- ALA and Sustainability – Includes a list of ALA committees and resolutions, as well as a library specific bibliography and links to online resources.
- Action for Climate Empowerment: A Guide for Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums – A guide for GLAM organizations from Curating Tomorrow, which helps museums and the heritage sector draw on their unique resources to enhance their contributions to society and the natural environment, the Sustainable Development Goals, climate action and nature conservation.
- Centre for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science – Partnership addressing “the urgent and interconnected challenges of climate change, cultural places, and food security” through a wide variety of work, including thematic working groups on topics like relationality, data sovereignty, and story-work and knowledge mobilization.
Association Resolutions, Statements, and Policies
- BCLA Climate Action Statement: Essential Climate Justice Responsibilities in the Library Sector (2024)
- Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) Strategic Plan prioritizes the SDGs, including “Climate Action”
- IFLA Library SDG Pledge (2023)
- BCLA and Archives Association of BC signed onto the BC Climate Emergency Campaign. BCLA statement here.
- ALA Sustainability in Libraries: A Call to Action (2022)
- OLA and BCLA resolution for a CFLA Climate Action Committee.
- IFLA Statement on Evidence for Sustainable Development (2022)
-
BCLA Climate Emergency Declaration (2020)
- ALA Resolution to Achieve Carbon Neutrality for ALA Conferences (2021)
- IFLA Sustainability is Libraries’ Business: Libraries and Sustainable Development. Document: Exemplars, Educators, Enablers: Libraries and Sustainability (2018)
- Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) Environmental Policy (2015)
-
ALA Policy on Environmental Issues (1990)
- Values Statements:
- British Columbia Library Association (BCLA) Values Statement: “Environmental Sustainability and Justice”
- Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Values: “Sustainability”
- American Library Association (ALA) Core Values of Librarianship: “Sustainability”
- Society of American Archivists Core Values Statement and Code of Ethics: “Sustainability”
Library Strategic Plans
(note that these links and examples may change)
Reports, Bench-marking, and Briefing Documents
- OLA Climate Action Committee Benchmarking Survey for Public Libraries (currently in progress)
- Getting Warmer: A Refined Taxonomy For Assessing Public Libraries’ Response to the Climate Crisis (2023) – by Michelle Foggett-Parker
- Navigating Uncertainty: Libraries and the Climate Crisis (2022) – Briefing prepared by McKelle Hansen for the BCLA Climate Action Committee
- Sustainability in Libraries: A Call to Action (2022) – Sustainability Briefing from the ALA Council Committee on Sustainability
- Libraries and Environmental Sustainability: From Acknowledgement to Activism – by Michelle Foggett-Parker
- The Carbon Footprint of Your Library (2020)
Library Buildings
- Lincoln Pelham Public Library (Ontario)
Labour
- Green Collective Agreement Database (project overview; repository overview) from Adapting Canadian Work. The Green Agreements Library pulls together clauses from collective agreements on everything from disasters to commuting.
- BC Climate Emergency Campaign. BCLA statement here. Signatories include BCLA, the Archives Association of BC, CUPE 2950, and many faculty associations and unions.
Climate Action Venn Diagrams by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
For inspiration, visit @climatevenn on Instagram or climatevenn.info