Megane Quelvennec.
techniques and sustainable inks and paper options. Piers, who is also chair of the Society of Authors’ Sustainability Steering Com- mittee, said that publishers are now even more committed to becoming more sustainable, and he believes more positive change is just around the corner. He added that libraries were an obvious place to start building a more sustainable future for books, urging publishers to offer books instead of pulping unsold copies. Every book in a library, he noted, was storing carbon – and the more libraries and books, the more carbon is stored. He adds: “After the 1850 the Public Libraries Act. libraries changed life expectancy, social mobility, literacy – all those things which we take for granted today. You can be those hubs of change again, because it’s vital that we have places where people can access information easily and get together with people and start to act.”
Delegates’ views
Among those at this year’s Green Librar- ies Conference were a number of bursary recipients. Here we share their experience of the day.
Megane Quelvennec, Graduate
Library Trainee at Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust, who was inspired to attend by her Professional Registration journey. She said: “I’m doing my Certi- fication, and I needed one more piece of evidence our of the health library sector, which is where I work. I saw the Green Library Conference and Bursary because I am a member of CILIP and I thought it would round off my experience. I wouldn’t have been able to come without the bursary – the process was really straightforward. “I really enjoyed Andrea Ku’s talk on the Nature Library talk which was about how libraries don’t always have to be about books, they can be about imparting knowl- edge in a way that is outside and engaging. I also enjoyed the carbon literacy project, which has taken the museum perspectives and created a toolkit for libraries.”
28 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
Michelle Farndell, Subject Librarian at the University of Chichester, and MSc Student at Robert Gordon University (dis- tance learner), said: “One of the lecturers at the university sent out an email alerting us to the conference and bursary opportu- nity and I thought that because I was quite close on the South Coast I would apply. “I have just done the Carbon Literacy training through work, but it is for higher education so I was thinking I could build on that and find our what initiatives would come our of today that we could implement in the library. We want to try to get more engagement with our students, and I think it is an opportunity to get ourselves out of the library and to bring more students in. We’re trying to develop our wellbeing offer and there is a link there too.
“I wouldn’t be here without the bursary. I’ve seen these type of bursaries adver- tised before and I have never got round to applying until now. It was so simple, I just wish I had done it before and I certainly will recommend it to my colleagues. “The green procurement session was really fascinating. I do a lot of acquisition, but I have never really thought about looking into the environmental polices of publishers at all. The self assessment toolkit was really interesting and that is something I will be taking back to the university.
“I think what will be really important is raising the profile of the library in terms of sustainability and putting something on the library agenda and on our own work practice. The big word that comes out of it all is ‘collaboration’ and partnership working – across university departments, but also outside of university. I’m starting to see ways that we can link in with our local public libraries, and I’m interested in talking about cascading Carbon Literacy training with library staff.” Carol Smith, Service Manager at Bed- fordshire NHS Trust’s Bevan Library, says she has been a long-time climate activist. Carol, who is due to retire next year said
Rachel Huskisson.
that she was delighted to see so many people in the library and information profession adding their voices to the fight for a sustainable future. She said: “I was inspired because I have been campaigning since the 1970s. Way back I campaigned for Greenpeace and back then we were social pariahs – we were see as fringe and troublemakers and most people didn’t think there was a problem.
“I’m nearing the end of my career, but I felt I still have things to learn. The older you get you realised that small steps are what is need to make changes. I was really inspired by so many people involved today – we are now mainstream and we can make a change together.” Rachel Huskisson, library manager at Derby college, is doing a masters in library and information service manage- ment at Sheffield University (distance learning), and says the bursary was invaluable in helping her attend the con- ference.
“One of the reasons why I wanted to apply is because one core priority for the college this year and into the next few, is going to be sustainability. I felt like it would be good for the library to be aligned with that and the wider college aims. “I had signed up to the manifesto but I haven’t really explored it so hearing peo- ple talk about it more is really interesting. The most useful one I’ve heard so far was someone in an FE library, Louise Morgan, which is obviously very relatable to the setting I’m in, about working in partner- ship across the college and aligning it to the manifesto and sustainable devel- opment goals. Also, the carbon literacy course is something I’d like to explore as part of the training for the team. “The stage I’m at with my masters is that I’m trying to think of a research topic to do my dissertation on, so I’m looking at whether there’s anything from today that I can explore for that.”
Michelle Farndell.
Find out more about the Green Libraries movement and how you can get involved at
www.cilip.org.uk/GreenLibraries. IP
December 2024
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