New sustainability concept for the library
2023-11-03 For a year now, a project group at Leuphana University Library has been working on how it can become even more sustainable as an academic library and is now presenting its initial results. "It's a nice feeling that you can make a relatively big difference with little effort, even though you don't have to change much in your day-to-day work," explains Babara Zeller, coordinator of the sustainability team.
For a few weeks now, there has been a special themed table on Agenda 2030 in the reading room. It is part of the library's new sustainability concept. Christine Jahrmärker explains what the project is all about: "By working on this project, we have realised how sustainable we are as a library institution by nature. We provide information, we lend books, but we want to go even further."
During the initial planning phase, the five-person team from the various library departments took part in a number of workshops and developed their own sustainability mission statement. It was important for the project group to involve all colleagues. Therefore, many ideas and all the things that are already ecologically very good were collected in joint workshops. One year later, their work is beginning to bear fruit. Barbara Zeller points to a shelf in front of the reading room: "Among other things, we have set up a swap shelf from which anyone can take books or bring in old ones. Next to it is our mobile phone collection point. Together with the Lions Club Lüneburg, we want to recycle mobile phones. And in the reading room there is also our themed table, where we want to highlight literature on the Agenda 2030 topics." And these are also well received. The table has to be restocked again and again because all the books are borrowed. The library has also had a new addition: outside, next to the kitchenette, Barbara Zeller nurtures and cares for countless worms that turn the library's organic waste into valuable soil in the Wurm Café. Anyone who would like to visit the hard-working little helpers in person is welcome to contact Barbara Zeller.
Other things are less visible from the outside: book deliveries are no longer packed in plastic, but instead come in reusable boxes, paper is saved wherever possible and much more. Even the coffee made in the tea kitchen is Fairtrade and the washing-up liquid is biodegradable.
The project group sees a need for action, especially in the administrative wing of the library. Here, too, more emphasis should be placed on motion detectors and shared printers. However, changes to work processes are generating enthusiasm: "We have been revising our work processes in the library for several years now, but the project has provided new impetus and further ideas have been implemented that not only make work processes more efficient, but also more ecological," reports Barbara Zeller.
In future, the sustainability concept is to be extended to the entire MIZ. The library team is also planning something big: with their funding for sustainable library projects from the state of Lower Saxony, they would like to purchase an electricity-generating bike that students can use to charge their own devices. They learnt about this through their Germany-wide networking with other "green libraries", such as the FU Berlin library. They already have one of these bikes there and it has been well received. This special gadget will probably be available at Leuphana in the course of next year.