by Virginia Connell
Corcordia College
Many writers in the library literature have addressed sustainability of the collection with regard to increased prices, user need and format stability. To this list of concerns, librarians should add the environmental impact of the different resources libraries choose. This article considers three facets of collection development: selection of materials whose content informs and assesses green practices; de-selection processes that emphasize reusing and recycling materials; and selection of a material format, specifically print or electronic, that honors the green dictum to reduce the carbon footprint an institution makes. The problem of reducing a library's carbon footprint is perhaps the most complex and most contentious when it come to the format of the collection. It is on the issue of print versus electronic resources that the present discussion of environmental sustainability will devote most of its focus.
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I've learned a lot of things from this article. Did you know that Libraries have long been icons of sustainability? Well, I do now. It is a common knowledge that libraries exist to serve its community, thus, it does not earn for its organization or school. Budget has always been issue, not just locally but also for libraries abroad. Some I've even heard first hand from conferences and seminars that I attend. But irregardless of the situation, the library still has consciously put into consideration, caring for the environment.
The green campaign in the library does not only focus on the physical infrastructure, it goes deeper and more thorough. Green campaigns have already touched on collection development process.
For me, the concept of green library is something new and it requires a great commitment. Although in my small library, it is something that still needs to be reviewed and explored, I look into the future to with a positive light that someday, I will be able to incorporate sustainability practices in the offices. For the meantime, I will start my sustainability efforts by assessing if I really need to print a document or article or just learn to adjust and read things electronically so as not to waste paper and harm the environment with carbon footprints left behind by the ink we use.
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