[SLI-public] San Diego County Library joins the Sustainable Library Certification Program

[sliadmin at suffolknet.org]

For Immediate Release

March 14, 2022

 

San Diego County Library joins the Sustainable Library Certification Program

Sustainable Libraries Initiative welcomes San Diego County Library's
enrollment in the Sustainable Library Certification Program.

 

 

               Suffolk County, New York - March 14, 2022 - San Diego County
Library has enrolled in the Sustainable Libraries Initiative's one-of-a-kind
Sustainable Library Certification Program. San Diego County Library is the
first library outside of the state of New York, where this program
originated, to enroll. With their experience demonstrating that libraries
can be part of the climate solution, the Sustainable Libraries Initiative
welcomes the infusion of ideas and practices that San Diego County Library's
membership in the Certification Program will bring to their member
community.

Sustainability is already an important focus throughout San Diego County,
California. In 2020, the County's 26 climate action measures reduced enough
greenhouse gases to equal the emissions from nearly 35,000 passenger
vehicles for a full year. It is also developing an ambitious Regional
Decarbonization Framework
<https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/sustainability/regional-decarbon
ization.html> that will move the region to be zero carbon emissions by
mid-century. Migell Acosta, Director of San Diego County Library, shares
this commitment in positioning San Diego County Library as part of the
climate solution:

 

"During 2021, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors took steps toward
making the County of San Diego a more sustainable and transparent
organization. The County's commitment to sustainability is captured in the
new vision for the County: "a just, sustainable, and resilient future for
all." The San Diego County Library embraces this vision and that of the
Sustainable Libraries Initiative. We are eager to begin the certification
process and share our efforts with the rest of the sustainable library
community. I believe it's time for all libraries to begin to focus on
creating a zero carbon library as a critical goal for the 21st century.  I
honor and respect the work of our colleagues in New York and believe it is
time for public libraries throughout the nation to join and strengthen their
efforts."

 

Enrollment in the Sustainable Library Certification Program is open to
public libraries nationwide. This flexible program is available to libraries
who are seeking help getting started in their sustainability efforts and
those, like San Diego County Library, that are already making substantial
efforts. For all libraries in the program, the mentor-guided step-by-step
benchmarking format and collaborative, member-driven resource sharing is a
way to find community within the library profession in addressing these
critically important issues.

International Impact

               San Diego County Library is among the first libraries to
participate in the Sustainable Library Certification Program, the first of
its kind in the world. This benchmarking program was developed to assist
libraries of all kinds - public, academic, and individual school librarians
- to create opportunities for making better choices on behalf of the local
and global community.

The program has been recognized by the International Federation of Library
Associations at their 2019 World Congress in Athens, Greece, becoming the
first program in the United States to be honored through their "Green
Libraries" Award.

Comprehensive Approach

               With categories of actions focusing on each of the three
pillars of triple bottom line sustainability such as Energy, Indoor Spaces,
Social Cohesion, and Resilience Planning, this comprehensive process leads a
library toward institutional change that shifts the rationale for every
decision to consider the local and global impacts. Through this program,
libraries work with their communities to listen and learn, allowing local
needs to be identified and addressed. Strengthening the relationship between
the library and the community they serve builds resilience through stronger
connections with many organizations and increased access to information. 

The path to certification through the Sustainable Libraries Certification
Program is designed to be flexible for libraries of different types, sizes,
and budgets and guided by the communities they serve. Each library that
completes the program will select the benchmarks that best fit the needs of
their library and community, resulting in a uniquely sustainable
organization. 

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative is expanding to enroll libraries
throughout the United States, with nearly fifty libraries currently enrolled
in the Sustainable Libraries Certification Program. Ten public libraries
have been certified through this program along with an academic library and
a school librarian.

For more information, see the Sustainable Libraries Initiative website
(https://sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org) or contact:

Annemarie Gordon, Sustainability Coordinator

Sustainable Libraries Initiative
<https://sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org/> 

Suffolk Cooperative Library System
<https://portal.suffolklibrarysystem.org/node/32703> 

631-286-1600 x1355

mailto:sliadmin at suffolknet.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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