As I prepare for the Library Instruction West 2014 (LIW14) conference in Portland, Oregon I am finding myself increasingly aware of a growing body of work. People all over the country are working to increase awareness of concepts regarding sustainability in the world of academic librarianship. It's very exciting to find like minded people in the field, and I am looking forward to attending the conference with much anticipation.
There are many levels of sustainability. According to the United Nations, sustainability is "meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs" (see source). This is a good starting point. When we extrapolate that meaning and apply it to libraries, what direction can it take us? Sustainable buildings (LEED), yes. Sustainable programs (recycling, less paper consumption), yes. When we step away from these common and important threads and apply sustainability to library information literacy instruction things get more experimental. I'm excited to attend the sessions at LIW14 in which the presenters are experimenting with ways to incorporate concepts of sustainability for their students and their curriculum. There are so many! I'm also happy to presenting (see my presentation slides).
See the full LIW14 schedule at: http://liw14.sched.org/
Twitter hastag: #liwest14
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