The Arc interior.
of operational models out there and pro- viding options and ideas that services can use in ways that are appropriate to them.” “We’re in a relatively good position here,” Emma says. “Hampshire County Council declared a climate emergency and we have our target of reaching net zero by 2050 and also ensuring our services are resilient to a two degree rise in temper- ature. We are also very lucky to have an in-house property service that is focused on a carbon reduction programme across our estate. So yes, we are in a good posi- tion but it’s not unique.”
But there is another key factor: Hamp- shire’s libraries have to pay their own energy bills. It is not unique, but not many other services have this responsibil- ity. Emma says that this has put libraries in an interesting position. “We did a lot of work on things like prioritising build- ings for window replacement and LED lighting as part of the Salix grant scheme decarbonisation programme to bring down energy costs. But it’s particularly interesting now because local managers have been quite disappointed that their energy bills haven’t come down as much as they had expected. When you see what’s happening, it’s because our energy consumption has come down dramati- cally since we started that programme, but energy prices have gone up. So, we’ve managed to protect our service that way. And no, we haven’t seen the financial saving we were maybe anticipating, but what situation would we have been in if we hadn’t done that?”
Data
“There can be a fairly prosaic, linear approach to climate change: planting
24 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL The Arc interior. June 2022
more trees, decarbonising buildings, stop- ping single use plastics. You either deliver or you don’t.”
This is the first of the three strands the partnership has been set up to explore. Its aims are important, and the results are measurable, but it is not part of the tra- ditional library offer. However, the data, information and culture around these processes is vital and does play more to the sector’s strengths.
“Things like smart data for energy, if you have access to those smart data meters you have some options,” but she ac- knowledges “it takes time and capacity to
think about how we use data well when thinking about climate change. We made smart meter data available for all libraries and managers so they can see the energy consumption of each library building by day of the week. It means they can see their own progress and compare themselves with other libraries in the county. Some have had a lots of work done with photovoltaic panels, LED lighting and double glazing, and others have not because of the nature of the building and what it lends itself to. It has led to very local changes – like managers turning plugs off at the switch
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