Sustainable, Resilient, Regenerative

A Strategy for the Future of New York's Libraries

NYLA's Sustainability Initiative provides New York's library leaders with time and resources to articulate how libraries adapt to our changing world while, as co-creators, shape strategies that ensure libraries remain vital, rebound from disruption, and provide on-going value to the communities they serve.

Visit the new Sustainable Libraries Initiative website at sustainablelibrariesinitiative.org to join the Sustainable Library Certification Program, which provides library leaders with a tested, structured path forward to increase your library’s commitment to environmental stewardship, economic feasibility, and social equity. 

As part of the program your team will work through 12 categories that help align your efforts with the triple bottom line:Organizational Commitment, Energy, Materials Management – Waste & Recycling, Materials Management – Purchasing, Transportation, Land Use, Water, Collective Impact, Social Cohesion, Community Resilience, Financial Sustainability, and Collections. Actions within each category provide you with the opportunity to take a closer look at how things are done and/or consumed at your library and provide your team with the opportunity to think differently about how you will proceed on that issue in the future. As part of the program, you'll have access to provide examples, inspiration, and “Pro Tips” along the way.

The Great Give Back is a statewide day of service made possible by libraries! This event offers an amplified platform to showcase the good work many libraries are already doing to connecting citizens willing to help with needs in their community – from cleaning up local parks and playgrounds, to holding Repair Cafes, to writing letters to soldiers and so much more! - and to highlight the public library’s evolving role as a community hub. This event is designed to help libraries get more visibility and good press for the great work they are usually already doing!

The Great Give Back will be held on October 19th, 2019 as a pilot project to expand this well-received initiative from Long Island to the rest of New York, and MHLS libraries have the opportunity to be part of something BIG! Thank you to the Suffolk County Public Library Directors Association and the Suffolk Cooperative Library System for sharing this opportunity with the rest of the state.