Previous Page
Urbanska Sees Libraries as Natural Leaders in a Trend Toward Sustainable Living
By
Frederick J. Augustyn, Jr.
The Library of Congress
Wanda
Urbanska, host and producer of PBS’s “Simple Living” series, was
part of the Auditorium Speaker Series July 12. Introduced by Leonard Kniffel,
Editor-in-Chief of American Libraries magazine, Urbanska is a noted consultant
on sustainable development and green living. She’s a newspaper columnist,
and author of or collaborator on seven books, including the anthology Less Is
More (2009). Kniffel noted that at least as long ago as in her first book in 1992,
Urbanska addressed what is gained, rather than what is lost, by simpler, more
rational consumer choices.
With
the hint of her home-town of Mt. Airy, North Carolina (TV’s Mayberry) in
her voice, she emphasized the opportunities confronting us in a challenging economy.
“The indicators are there to say that the age of overconsumption is over.”
We face choices in the categories of heat and housing, food and modes of transportation.
The post-World War II propensity toward larger houses for often smaller families
has reversed since 2007; consumers are more often opting for locally grown produce;
and more walking, or greater use of public transportation.
Increasingly more Americans recognize that clutter can “stuffocate us.” Urbanska champions this “Europeanization” of consumer usage, which is also indebted to alternative American values as enunciated in visionary books such as Thoreau’s Walden, Scott and Ann Nearing’s Living the Good Life, and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
Urbanska has
already publicized the vanguard roles that many libraries have and can continue
to play in the move toward transumerism such as in her article “A Greener
Library, A Greener You” in the April issue of American Libraries. Libraries,
an important “third place” in which people spend much of their time
after home and work, have demonstrated to their patrons the values of environmental
stewardship, thoughtful consumption, community involvement, and financial responsibility,
all aspects of simple living.
Urbanska encouraged libraries to: “reduce, reuse, and recycle paper,” possibly limiting the number of printouts through fees; buy recycled products; turn off power strips when not in use; buy furniture that lasts; and eliminate SUIs or “single use items” such as paper cups, plastic-bottled water, and disposable bags.
Basketball Star Candace Parker Named Honorary Chair of Library Card Sign-up Month
Olympic
Gold-medalist and 2008 WNBA Rookie of the Year Candace Parker will let Americans
know that a library card is the “smartest card” in every wallet.
As
Honorary Chair of Library Card Sign-up Month in September, Parker will be featured
in print and radio public service announcements (PSAs). ALA will place the PSAs
in magazines and on radio stations across the country.
PSAs
are available for free download to libraries looking to promote Library Card Sign-up
Month locally. In addition to the PSAs, librarians can download sample media materials
and Web badges. All resources can be downloaded at http://www.ala.org/
librarycardsignup.
Library Card
Sign-up Month was launched in 1987. It is a time to remind parents that a library
card is the most important school supply of all. Since then, thousands of public
and school libraries join each fall in a national effort to ensure every child
does just that.
The Campaign for America’s Libraries is the ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types — across the country and around the globe — use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible in part by ALA’s Library Champions.
The “Smartest Card” was created by the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of ALA, to promote the library card as the most important card in every wallet.
GRAB
A CUP OF JOE.
Learn how to save time and
money as you improve access to your collection.
Visit www.marcive.com/homepage/ala.htm to download any of the presentations given by MARCIVE during ALA.
Topics include:
• ERIC: New ways to provide access to ERIC documents through your catalog
• Authorities: Automated processing of bib and authorities records
• Reclassification: How one college moved from Dewey to LC call numbers cost-effectively
• Authorities and database building: How to retrieve everything you already own
• MARC Record Enrichment: TOC, Fiction/Biography, Summaries to aid retrieval and determine relevancy
• And many more!
Did you miss ALA or not have a
chance to swing by our booth?
Give us a call now! www.marcive.com/homepage/ala.htm
