[SLI-public] Sustainable Libraries Initiative February 2022 Newsletter

Tue Feb 1 08:11:47 EST 2022

 <https://sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org/media/document/156> 

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative February 2022 Newsletter
<https://sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org/media/document/156>  is now
available by clicking the link or thumbnail image, downloading the pdf
attachment, or by reading the full text below.

Breaking News:

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative
<https://sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org/>  is now enrolling libraries
nationwide! We are ready to expand outside of New York State and broaden our
community of practice across the US.  <http://suffolknet.org> Contact us for
more details about signing up for membership or certification.

Congratulations, Hauppauge Public Library

This month we are celebrating the certification of our tenth public library,
Hauppauge Public Library <https://hauppaugelibrary.org/>  in Hauppauge, New
York! Hauppauge is part of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System. They
satisfied their environmental benchmark categories through the Green
Business Partnership (GBP) certification program in January 2019. Hauppauge
Public Library's GBP Certification serves as an excellent example of how a
library can work within the constraints of operating in a leased space. The
library was able to advocate for energy saving features such as LED lighting
with the owner of the building when the space was renovated for their use.
They designed the layout of their space to maximize the use of natural light
and chose furnishings that could serve multiple purposes and be reconfigured
to adapt to emerging needs. A Smart Board installed on a cart allows for one
piece of equipment to be used in many different areas of the library. This
saves money by reducing the number of big-ticket items purchased, saves
production resources by allowing the use of one item in many different ways,
eliminates the need for paper, pens, and markers, and saves space by only
having the smart board in a programming room only when it is needed.

Many other efforts were smaller in scale and budget, yet still added up to a
considerable environmental benefit. Programmable thermostats were installed,
Energy Star <https://www.energystar.gov/>  rated electronics were purchased,
and popular titles are rented from vendors, rather than purchased. This
allows Hauppauge to meet the demand for new titles, while building in the
ability to send them back to the vendor as soon as demand wanes. The staff
have access to reusable cups, dishes, and utensils in addition to a
dishwasher. The library also has two water bottle filling stations. These
are a great service to the public and offer passive reinforcement of the
environmental benefit of reducing plastic water bottle consumption.

Hauppauge Public Library sought to engage their staff and the community in
their recycling efforts. In the staff break room, they designated a space
for free-cycling. Any staff member can bring in items and give and take from
this space. For their guests, they have accessible bins for hard to recycle
items such as batteries, phones, and other small electronics. They also
collect donations to be shared with other community organizations for
distribution. Food, get well cards, clothing, eyeglasses, and Legos were
collected and shared with other charities. In 2020 Hauppauge Public Library
collected 2,276 pounds of materials to be recycled or redistributed.

When addressing the social equity and community resilience categories of the
SLCP, Hauppauge Public Library were motivated by the findings of community
conversations held over the past few years. The flexibility of the SLCP
encourages each library's efforts to be unique to the community that they
serve. In the community surrounding the library, one of their most commonly
heard concerns was that there was a need for creating a sense of place in
the community. The town of Hauppauge does not have a main street or central
business district, which can make it difficult for small businesses located
in the area to communicate, share resources, and collaborate on marketing
efforts. Residents also expressed that they are lacking a source for local
news and events. 

To begin addressing these needs, Hauppauge Public Library has been working
to find ways to bring local businesses and community members together. In
October 2020, when businesses began to reopen after the COVID shutdowns,
there were no central ways to communicate what establishments had reopened.
The library developed a fun way to get the word out while encouraging
residents to patronize these businesses. They set up a "Ghost Hunt," which
was a scavenger hunt with clues to lead them to these area shops. This
engaging and innovative library program helped to get residents involved in
the shared purpose of supporting their local economy. The library
distributed large paper ghosts for participating businesses to display in
their windows. They then wrote clues for the library patrons to guess where
to find the ghosts.

This activity helped residents get to know the businesses that had reopened
and encouraged them to support their local economy. The benefits extended to
the library, when residents would see the ghosts displayed in shop windows
and find out about the library program, drawing new guests in. Additionally,
those businesses that participated were able to announce their re-opening to
the community in a fun and novel way. Completed scavenger hunts could be
turned into the library for a prize. An activity such as this one shows an
effective way for a library to foster a sense of community, encourages
residents to explore the local small businesses in their area, and to
consider how they, and the library, are all connected. Reaching out to
businesses in this way establishes the library as a resource not just for
individual and personal interests, but for businesses and, more broadly, for
the whole community.

Building on the success of this program, Hauppauge Public Library held a
Trunk-or-Treat event scheduled near Halloween. They encouraged local
businesses to participate by decorating a vehicle, offering games for
children, and giving away treats. Many members of the community turned out,
making this a great opportunity to give these businesses the exposure they
need to prosper. An unexpected benefit was that the business owners relished
the opportunity to gather together and meet each other. The Hauppauge
community was once again reminded that their library is ready to be that
central gathering space and business hub that their community needs. 

 <https://buzz.hauppaugelibrary.org/> 

Another creative way that Hauppauge was able to meet the needs of their
community was to create a web page to communicate local news and events to
their community. This need was discovered during the earlier community
conversations. When no suitable resource could be found to meet this need,
the library created and hosted their own. The page, called "The Buzz
<https://buzz.hauppaugelibrary.org/> ," highlights local news stories and
events in the community.

Hauppauge Public Library's commitment to let their efforts be community
driven shows that they are willing to shift their focus in whatever ways are
needed to help their community thrive. Outreach efforts such as these expand
what a community views as library services, it broadens the reach of those
services and brings new people in to realize that the library is willing and
able to provide for our communities to ensure that they will continue to
thrive. 

Member news:

Welcome,  <https://www.northcastlelibrary.org> North Castle Public Library!
Located in Armonk, NY, NCPL will be participating in our public library
certification program. Additionally, we welcome the 56 libraries of the
Suffolk Cooperative Library System
<https://portal.suffolklibrarysystem.org/>  who are now members of the
Sustainable Libraries Initiative.

 <https://www.northcastlelibrary.org/> 

 <https://portal.suffolklibrarysystem.org/> 

Upcoming Events

SLCP Online Meetup
<https://sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org/events/online-meet-19-slcp-parti
cipants> : Thursday, February 3rd, 11am EST

School Librarian Certification Meetup
<https://sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org/events/school-librarian-certific
ation-meet-1> : Thursday, February 10th, 3:30pm EST

ALA Core Webinar
<https://elearning.ala.org/local/catalog/view/product.php?productid=153> :
Sustainable Thinking Builds Strong Libraries and Resilient Communities:
Tuesday, March 15th, 2pm EST

Call for Items:

Have you created a library policy or program with Sustainability in mind?
Share your ideas with our community! Contact
<mailto:sliadmin at suffolknet.org> sliadmin at suffolknet.org to be featured in
our newsletter or on the  <http://sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org> SLI
Website.

Follow us on Social Media:

Facebook Group: Sustainable Libraries Initiative

Instagram: @sustainablelibrariesinitiative

Twitter: @sustainablelib2

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