
Article
Libraries as Sustainability Leaders: ALA’s Special Task Force
portal: Libraries and the Academy
(2019)
Abstract
This article discusses the work of the American Library Association (ALA) Special Task Force on Sustainability, which identified 52 recommendations, including the adoption of sustainability as a core value of librarianship. The group aims to promote libraries as catalysts, connectors, and conveners to promote sustainability, resilience, and regeneration. The Task Force is guided by the concept of the triple bottom line, which states that an organization’s practices must be not only economically feasible but also socially equitable and environmentally sound. The article also provides examples of how libraries engage in sustainable practices to support the cities and towns they serve.
Keywords
- Libraries,
- Academic libraries,
- Public libraries,
- Sustainability,
- Triple bottom line,
- Resilience,
- Regeneration,
- American Library Association,
- ALA,
- Catalysts,
- Connectors,
- Conveners
Disciplines
Publication Date
July, 2019
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2019.0020
Publisher Statement
Published in portal, v. 19, no. 3, p. 365-374.
Copyright © 2019 by Johns Hopkins University Press
This article first appeared in portal: Libraries and the Academy, Volume 19, Issue 3, July, 2019, pages 365-374.
The copyright holder has granted the permission for posting the article here.
The document available for download is the authors' post-peer-review final draft of the article.
Citation Information
René Tanner, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Monika Antonelli and Adrian K. Ho. "Libraries as Sustainability Leaders: ALA’s Special Task Force" portal: Libraries and the Academy Vol. 19 Iss. 3 (2019) p. 365 - 374 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/akho/60/