ASLI and Sustainability: Unexplored and Relevant

Issues related to sustainable communities and sustainable development jumped off the radar screen in the past decade. Sustainable issues have not escaped the attention of planners (rural to urban), researchers, elected official (especially at local to state levels), and government agencies. There has been a recent groundswell, in library discussions and forums on information and effort promoting the concepts of resilience, sustainability, sustainable development, and sustainable communities, including those communities of colleges and universities large and small, special libraries, and public libraries (that are often highly dependent on the collections, resources, and expertise of their peers in academic and special libraries). Various local, regional, state, and national library associations have raised important questions at their meetings for many years, when they are asked about their professional involvement with “sustainability” issues. Replies have been vague, ambiguous, or perplexed: “I don’t know.” “What should we do?” “Maybe we should look into it more.” The STEM literature contains many references to the general concept of “Climate Change and Resilience to Extreme Weather Events,” indicating a potential role for librarians. I recently presented a report for the State University of New York Library Association Council, of which I am a member and a delegate from the University at Buffalo, A Librarian’s Perspective on Sustainability for SUNYLA: A Report to SUNYLA Council. This ASLI presentation summarizes the results of my efforts and highlights various professional library associations (e.g., ALA, NYLA, IFLA) and their sustainability efforts, and stimulates a discussion about the roles played by ASLI, its members, and others who should be looking to our librarians and libraries as vital resources and portal of assistance and collaboration.