Start here for an overview of our profession’s newest core value, Sustainability, as adopted by the American Library Association in 2019. Identify the four characteristics of a sustainable library and learn how the triple bottom line definition of sustainability can be used to adapt library operations, service and program design, and partnerships in our community, to respond to the impacts of climate change. This webinar will focus on introductory concepts that will set the stage for the other offerings in this series.

Presented by: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich (MLS, LEED AP), Executive Director, Mid-Hudson Library System (NY), Co-founder/Current President, Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI), and author

Access recording

• View Webinar Recording (You will be prompted to log in to our free Course Catalog.)

Webinar attachments

• View slides (pdf)
  
• View chat (xls)
• View captions (txt)
  
• Series Learner Guide (doc) Use alone or with others to extend your learning. 

Related resources and links

• OCLC's Distinguished Seminar Series with Rebekkah Smith Aldrich: Sustainability—A Call to Action for the Library Community
• Sustainability in Libraries: A Call to Action (pdf)
• Road Map to Sustainability
• eNewsletter of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative
• Final Presentations from the Sustainable Library Certification Program
• Resources from the Sustainability Round Table of the American Library Association
• Sustainability and Libraries: ALA and Sustainability
• Project Drawdown and book, Drawdown
• Library of Local
  
• Books by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich
• Libraries & sustainability : programs and practices for community impact
• Resilience
• Sustainable thinking : ensuring your library's future in an uncertain world
• Other books referenced
• Doughnut economics : seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist
• Heat wave : a social autopsy of disaster in Chicago
• Additional links shared in chat
• HeatReadyCA.com
• On collective impact, Center for the Future of Libraries
• Concord Free Public Library, Sustainability Plan (pdf)
• Climate Resilience Hubs
• Rochester Public Library, youth climate change program
• Growing Library Garden Programs, WebJunction
• Reduce Waste, Build Community: Hosting Repair Events at Your Library, WebJunction webinar

• Sustainable Libraries: Resources and Webinars for Climate Action
• Read Sustainability 101, the first article
  
• Read Getting Started with Climate Action Planning, the second article
  
• Read Disaster Preparedness and Community Resilience, the third aricle
• Read Climate Justice, the fourth aricle
• Read Programs that Walk the Talk, the fifth article
  
• Reading Lists on WorldCat.org compiled by Sustainable Libraries Inititative
• Essential Reads
• Environmental Justice
• Eco-Literacy for Kids
• Books for Youth Climate Activists
• Climate Fiction Starter Pack

Other webinars in the series

Climate Action Planning (Part 1): An Introduction
Recording now available

Climate Action Planning (Part 2): Disaster Preparedness and Community Resilience
Recording now available

Climate Justice
Recording now available

Living Our Values Out Loud: Programs that Walk the Talk
Recording now available

Stronger Together: Collective Impact and Climate Action Programming
Recording now available