Libraries’ Environmentally Sustainable Practices and Services in Three States

This article reports findings from an exploratory survey study of libraries in California, Florida, and Georgia on their day-to-day environmentally sustainable practices and related services, along with the respondents’ perception of library’s role and challenges in promoting environmental sustainability. Findings from this study show that the most common environmentally sustainable practices in these libraries are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and energy saving practices. Many libraries have taken individual actions, such as the 3Rs, or held programs on environmental issues. However, not many libraries were considered to have established policies or systematically address environmental issues. The respondents view library’s role as primarily the information providers and educators. Lack of money, staff time and subject expertise are the top challenges faced by libraries when promoting environmental sustainability in their community followed by competing priorities on library’s plate as well as a concern that promoting environmental sustainability in their community might be viewed as a political charge. Findings from this study contribute to the understanding of library’s roles and environmental sustainability, and inform the design of future studies on this topic and provide ideas on how to better support libraries.