IN DEPTH
Green Libraries Conference: Hope for a sustainable future
The second CILIP-led Green Libraries Conference took place at the British Library, just days after COP29 ended. While that focused on global solutions to the environmental crisis, this year’s Green Libraries Conference looked at how libraries can make a difference.
CILIP President Sue Williamson opened the conference with a welcome speech that looked back on the development of the UK’s Green Libraries Campaign, which has its roots in the wake of COP26 in Glasgow. Through Arts Council England Funding, the initial shoots of a green library movement has been built and developed over the past five years – now encompassing libraries and professionals from across sectors. She said: “We’re aiming to encourage you to consider how you, both personally and profes- sionally, might tackle the issues surrounding climate change and sustainability strategically. “I have always seen libraries playing a role not only in demonstrating good practice (after all, the lending model is the ultimate in reusing and recycling) and supporting their communities to exercise that environmental responsibility, but also in hosting and supporting the knowledge base that enables structured, informed and responsible debate about this crucial issue.”
The opening keynote speech came from Baron- ess Natalie Bennett, former leader of the Green Party who now sits in the House of Lords. She spoke about how libraries can be agents of change – pushing the green agenda in innovative ways, and helping to reshape the way we think about an environmentally positive future.
She said: “Technology is not going to fix these 26 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
Rob Green (
rob.green@
cilip.org.uk) is Editor of Information Professional
problems. What we have to do is change our societies and that’s where I believe libraries are absolutely central.” In fact she sees people and community as the biggest drivers of changes, but urged everyone to think differently about the approaches they take, saying: “We need a world where everyone makes politics what they do, not what they have done to them.”
Hope at the heart of change
For Baroness Bennett that means not just work- ing within the current political systems, but mak-
December 2024
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46
