Long before the dawn of Depop and Facebook Marketplace, before upcycling tips and sustainability tricks were pumped through our social media feeds, there were libraries. Libraries have long been about reducing, reusing, recycling. It’s kind of their whole thing… but these days, books are just the beginning of the story at Suffolk Libraries. We’re implementing all sorts of systems in our libraries to make them greener, and our carbon footprint smaller. So, in honour of Green Libraries Week, we’re breaking down the 10 ways libraries are saving the environment, and how, you, a library user, are too.
The home of borrowers
By its very nature, the library service is all about ‘recycling’ books. In the last year, our most borrowed book, perhaps unsurprisingly, was Richard Osman’s The Last Devil to Die, which was taken out and returned a total of 1,472 times. Across our stock we have only 124 copies of the popular mystery book. Just think how many individual copies of books are saved from being bought each year in favour of borrowing them from the library instead.
Community gardens
A few of our libraries across Suffolk are lucky enough to have their very own community gardens. Stowmarket Library’s vibrant garden area has wildlife friendly plants, bird boxes and a few bug hotels! Kessingland Library have even opened a community fridge stocked up with the fresh produce from their garden, to help reduce waste and support their community.
Biodegradable library cards!
We said goodbye to plastic library cards back in 2022 and haven’t looked back since. Our new cards are 100% biodegradable but made from fibre board. So don’t worry, they’re still sturdy enough to live at the bottom of your bag!
Recycling points in libraries
Many of our libraries have unique recycling points, often set up by individual staff members who have identified a specific need in their local area. Woodbridge library, for example, recycle pens and batteries, and even let you drop off old broken watches and jewellery that they find ways to recycle or repurpose. So next time you’re at your local library, have a look around if you can see any unique recycling points you haven’t noticed before.
Our Environmentalist in Residence Programme
Our dedicated arts programme, powered by Arts Council England funding, is committed to bringing creativity to local communities in Suffolk in new and exciting ways that reinvents how people think about the library service. Just one environmental initiative our arts team have launched is the Environmentalist in Residence programme, which invites established environmentalists to share their expertise, inspiration and love for our planet with library patrons of all ages. The programme is currently home to field recordist and teacher, Martin Scaiff, whose work encourages people to become active environmental listeners for the benefit of their creativity, education, and health.
“As part of my residency, I have been sound walking between every Suffolk library for the Seconds of Sound (S.O.S project). On these walks, I recorded and live streamed the acoustic habitats I travelled through, inviting others to walk with me (either in person or remotely), and delivering active environmental listening activities however, whenever, and wherever, I can. After each walk, I have brought the sounds I have recorded together into a collection that will become part of Suffolk Libraries’ lending stock.” - Martin
Pre-loved goodness
We love finding new homes for old stuff. Just plain throwing things away has never really sit right with us. That’s why you’ll often find us on the quest to rehome or repurpose something that might otherwise go to waste, for example, a loved-in book, that’s been discarded from our catalogue, being sold to raise a little extra money for your local library.
Electric charging points
From Needham Market to Saxmundham, our libraries are quickly becoming a hot spot for charging electric-powered vehicles. So next time you need to charge up, why not take out a library book while you wait? Check out if your local library has a chargepoint.
Sustainable (and free!) art workshops
Our free creative workshops for 10–16-year-olds in Suffolk offer high quality art tutorials. Many of which have an environmental focus. Just this summer, we had textile maker and former Suffolk Libraires Environmentalist in Residence, Clare Sams teach a range of weaving techniques using recycled newspapers and magazines, as well as a host of paper-making classes using natural materials like leaves and seeds.
We love paper, like really love paper
Behind every well-maintained front desk in every library is a mountain (or five) of scrap paper. If you’ve ever reserved a book in one of our libraries, you’ll be only too familiar with seeing your name poking out of a book on a paper reservation slip. Our librarians are constantly finding new and innovative ways to make old paper new again. Lend a closer eye next time you go pick up a reservation, we bet your paper slip will take on at least five new forms before you’ve reached the second chapter.
Wild Reads.. it’s here!
Autumn marks an exciting time for us here at Suffolk Libraries because, along with its changing leaves, it brings Wild Reads, a partnership project with Suffolk Wildlife Trust that celebrates the beauty of the natural world through the power of the written word. Whether you’d like to come along to a herbology class, or a silent nature disco or just curl up with our curated Wild Reads Book Collection, there’s something for everyone looking to reconnect this autumn.
