We spoke with Kirsten MacQuarrie, Sector Development Manager at the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS), to discuss the Green Libraries Initiative, what it aims to achieve and how information professionals around the world can get involved.
(Archivoz) Could you tell us a little bit about the Green Libraries Initiative and how it was established?
(Kirsten MacQuarrie) ‘If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need,’ observed Cicero back in 46 BC. Since COP26 came to Glasgow in November 2021, Scotland’s libraries of all sectors have been making the most of their unique place at the heart of their communities to green their buildings and collections, inspire local climate action, and grow ecological literacy for all ages and stages. Here at CILIP Scotland, we began our eco-adventure by developing a resource collection – affectionately named #CILIPSGoGreen – that featured recommended readings, interviews, events and other interventions. Over time, this has evolved to support and strengthen the Green Libraries Partnership at a UK and even international level. Above all, the initiative aims to catalyse library-led environmental action and advocate for our sector’s irreplaceable role in making society more equitable and sustainable.
(Archivoz) What have been some of the key milestones of the initiative?
(Kirsten MacQuarrie) One milestone – that I’m delighted to say continues to go from strength to strength – was the foundation of the Green Libraries Scotland Grant Fund, offering small-scale grants for libraries delivering innovative and impactful climate action in their communities. From climate craftivism to Scottish libraries’ first Environmentalist-in-Residence, we’ve been thrilled to watch these projects take root. I’d also love to give a special shoutout to Seeds to Success, the first Green School Library funded project anywhere in the UK. This year, the Fund is back and bigger than ever, with five new projects planting seeds of inspiration from the Scottish Highlands to inner city areas (and everywhere in between)!
Another initiative close to my heart was Scotland’s Green Libraries Gathering 2023, a one-day event that took place just as Scotland’s Climate Week blossomed into Green Libraries Week. This online conference was filled with inspiring opportunities for Green Champions to collaborate, connect and reflect on library-led environmental action. Green insights were shared by the National Library of Scotland, Glasgow Women’s Library, Scottish Book Trust, Paperboats, our Green Libraries Scotland Grant Fund recipients and more. You can watch the full recording here.
(Archivoz) There was a research element to the initiative, can you share any interesting or unexpected insights?
(Kirsten MacQuarrie) Something illuminated by our work with researchers at the University of Strathclyde – at first, through a Scottish Library & Information Council funded collaborative project, and now supported by the CILIPS Research Fund – is the unique role of libraries in sustainability education. Certainly, it’s no easy task to green our infrastructure and systems, a challenge we share with the rest of the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) sector, but I believe that libraries truly offer the missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to climate literacy. Where else can communities turn to for sustainable resource sharing? And in a landscape rife with mis- and dis-information, where else can they find the trustworthy information they need to make informed decisions on climate action? The answer, of course, is their local library!
(Archivoz) What is the Green Libraries Manifesto?
The Green Libraries Manifesto is an inclusive initiative for libraries of all sectors that articulates a shared vision of how we can lead by example through our own environmental actions. Grounded in seven key pledges, it embodies how libraries can use our unique power and reach to inform and inspire people to take positive action and build resilience in the diverse communities we serve. Wherever they are in the world and whatever stage their sustainability journey has reached, all libraries that become signatories to the Manifesto commit to bring environmental sustainability to the heart of their decision making; to innovate and evolve; to work with our communities; to use our voice for more impact; to work in partnership; to grow and share our knowledge; and to support young people. You can find inspiring case studies of how libraries are already transforming these aims into actions on the Green Libraries website.
(Archivoz) Can you share a case study from the Green Libraries Initiative?
(Kirsten MacQuarrie) When it comes to the fantastic feminist space of Glasgow Women’s Library, I often have to limit myself when calling on them as a case study – surely not again? – but the truth is they are national and indeed even international pioneers in demonstrating all that a library can achieve when it comes to climate action. From their pioneering Handbook to Net Zero, grounded in their aim to attain net carbon neutrality by 2030, to a growing library garden and a creative range of eco-feminist events, I’d recommend that all readers check out their activities. If you join us at this year’s Green Libraries Conference (London, Monday 25th November 2024), you may even get to meet them in person!
(Archivoz) What would you say to practitioners who think they need substantial funding or a even new eco building to be considered environmentally sustainable?
(Kirsten MacQuarrie) The most sustainable building is the one you’ve already built, to paraphrase renowned Inverclyde architect Bruce Newlands, who kindly spoke to us during the seedling days of CILIPSGoGreen, and the great Greta Thunberg also puts it perfectly: no one is too small to make a difference. Rather than adding sustainability as yet another item on an increasingly long library to-do list, we see environmental action as the perfect fit for society’s inaugural recyclers – libraries! We also see it as a key facet of library advocacy in the coming months, years and decades. As more and more territories rightly recognise the climate crisis, our evidence base demonstrates that this emergency cannot be tackled without libraries: frontline defenders of education, information, community and collective action.
(Archivoz) How can people get involved in the Green Libraries Initiative?
(Kirsten MacQuarrie) Whatever your role within libraries, information and knowledge, and wherever you are in the world, you can play your part in growing Green Libraries! As a first step, why not join our free, friendly Green Libraries Network – an online community where fellow Green Champions share ideas and inspiration? Or confer with colleagues about your organisation by becoming a signatory to the Green Libraries Manifesto? We love hearing about how professionals are putting its seven pledges into practice! We’re also eager to see as many delegates as possible, local and international, at our upcoming Green Libraries Conference taking place on Monday 25 November in London. Above all, let’s use our unique skills as library and information professionals around the world to champion evidence-based environmental action, with libraries as the beating hearts of the just transition to sustainable living that we all want to see.
Header image is a drawing of Green Libraries Conference by Karl Millett
Interviewee:
Kirsten MacQuarrie
Sector Development Manager at CILIP Scotland, Moderator of the Green Libraries Network, and Chair of the Green Libraries Conference 2024 planning committee.
Interviewers:
Catherine Gow
Content Editor for Archivoz
Currently working as a Teaching Assistant in Tunbridge Wells
Having graduated with a first-class degree in English and History, I am keen to combine my skills in writing and communication, with my passion for History and archive work.
Due to the known difficulties of commencing a career within the museum and heritage sector, I have been proactive in finding and developing my experience through voluntary work. This is evidenced through my Playmaker volunteering at The Young V&A in Bethnal Green as well as my Collections Volunteer work at The Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham. I have also volunteered for MSM Trust, assisting with the archival material before the collections’ journey to the University of Cambridge; I am keen to continue networking and building my profile in this field.
Ayah Al-Rawni
Content Editor for Archivoz
Ayah is an Archivist for the Human Cell Atlas Consortium, and is based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Her professional interests include digital preservation, scientific archives, advocacy and public engagement.
