McMaster University Libraries are engaging in environmental action, and the Libraries Sustainability Committee is helping to lead the way.
The committee is a volunteer group of library employees who have a shared commitment to climate action and organize climate action-based activities around the work and initiatives that the libraries are already doing. Such work includes highlighting collections, services, and spaces that are conducive to environmental sustainability initiatives.
“All jobs are climate jobs because environmental sustainability and the climate crisis impact everyone,” said Nicole Doro, teaching and learning librarian and founding member of the Libraries Sustainability Committee. “In order to address the climate crisis, we really need to make changes in all avenues of our lives.”
The committee formed in 2020 based on employee interest in environmental sustainability when Thode Makerspace was starting up the repair café. However, as the pandemic hit, the committee had to figure out virtual solutions. They ran a digital waste audit, an employee survey to see what the libraries could be doing better, and many virtual events including author readings, documentary screenings, featured archives and collections, and virtual repair cafés.
Since coming out of the pandemic, they have focused on hybrid and in-person events and programs. They are also bringing awareness to the importance of sustainability and climate action to the libraries and the campus at large.
Doro says that libraries lend themselves well to climate work because they are already based on the premise of a circular economy, where things are going out and coming back in, which means that libraries are a model that can lead the way in climate action.
Paige Roman, collection strategy librarian and chair of the Libraries Sustainability Committee, says small changes can have a big impact.
“People perceive libraries as sustainable institutions, but there is always more that can be done at the local level,” said Roman. “For example, while libraries reuse a lot, there is still energy being used on things like computers and providing access to ebooks, so it's good to be mindful that there are always things that we can still improve.”
One of McMaster University Libraries’ strategic directions is “Nurture Sustainability.” The initiative reinforces the need to build a livable future by adopting and promoting sustainability as a guiding principle in all aspects of the libraries’ operations.
The libraries aim to consider the environmental impact of its decisions about collections, buildings, technologies, programming, and practices in the context of their full life cycles and impacts on the health of ecosystems and human beings. It also aims to increase awareness of environmental and ecological issues among users and employees of the libraries while developing and providing resources and tools to support sustainable practices within and beyond the libraries.
Among the most recent initiatives run by the Libraries Sustainability Committee include digital and physical collections and displays, speaker events, art displays for Climate Action Week, and a library guide to sustainability. They also have a newsletter that helps educate employees on ways that they can be more sustainable.
Community members are welcome to take part in the committee’s programs. For example, everyone is welcome to take and donate seeds to the seed library hosted each spring at Mills, Thode and Health Sciences libraries.
This year, McMaster University Libraries, in collaboration with campus and community partners, are inviting the community to take part in Year of Environmental Action, bringing attention to the libraries’ ongoing priority of sustainability. This year of programming will present a series of events, collections, resources, exhibits and initiatives focused on environmental action at McMaster, and the Libraries Sustainability Committee has been a vital partner in helping bring Year of Environmental Action to life.
Vivian Lewis, associate vice-president and university librarian, says this themed year is about encouraging everyone to make a change, no matter how small, to support environmental sustainability.
“I’m so grateful to our employees who are passionate about implementing our nurture sustainability strategic initiative at the libraries,” said Lewis. “Environmental sustainability affects everyone, so when our libraries are more sustainable, everyone wins.”
Get Involved
To learn more about sustainability at the libraries, visit the Libraries Sustainability Committee LibGuide and the Year of Environmental Action webpage.
