The Green Library Movement: An Overview and Beyond

From Green Libraries to Green Information Literacy

“…• adopting green practices such as recycling • developing information services that can produce fewer carbon footprints throughout the lifecycle of the generation, publication, organization, distribution, access, use and disposal of information [2], [7], [10][11][12].…”

“…The environment has benefited largely from libraries' lending practices which reuse the same materials extensively and reduce the number of trees harvested [15], [6]. The Green Library Movement, greening libraries and reducing their environmental impact emerged in the early 1990s and gained popularity in the beginning of this century [2]. The Talloires Declaration, the first official statement for a commitment to environmental sustainability in higher education -composed in 1990 and signed by over 40 countries -had an important impact on this movement.…”

“…Green operations and practices in libraries include but are not limited to the following [6][7], [2], [11], [15], [18][19]…”

“…Consequently, there is a need for urgent action to address these problems by changing people's and institutions' behaviors to reverse the trend and repair the damage. Environmental issues have become a major area of research and also concern in the twenty-first century [1][2][3]. Today, as awareness and interest have increased towards environmental problems, discussion of environmental sustainability has become widespread in many governments and organizations.…”

“…Organizations, including libraries [4], are taking measures to reduce their damage on the environment. As a result of libraries' involvement with environmental issues, the Green Library Movement, whose main concern is reducing libraries' environmental impact, emerged in the early 1990s [2].…”