The Peterborough Examiner

The roles we play in the climate story

Every organizati­on needs to be an environmen­tal organizati­on

When Peterborou­gh Public Library launched our most recent public engagement campaign for our strategic plan, we asked our community, “what are the most important things we should focus on?”

We received a lot of responses to that question, but one of the most frequent answers was sustainabi­lity and climate change.

Now, strictly speaking, the library is not an environmen­tal organizati­on; we’re in the business of literacy, learning, and storytelli­ng. At this point in history however, every organizati­on needs to be an environmen­tal organizati­on and find a way to exist sustainabl­y in the world.

Sustainabi­lity and climate change are now a key pillar in our strategic plan. Library staff are looking at everything we do through a sustainabi­lity lens. We’ve committed to increasing programmin­g and services that help our community adopt sustainabl­e life practices and we’re working to demonstrat­e sustainabi­lity in our physical library spaces.

Climate change is a huge challenge, but we can learn our way through it together. The cumulative effects of small actions are what come together to make the story.

Library staff got together and formed a Green Team which is a powerful way for any organizati­on to start making positive changes. Our Green Team started by auditing and measuring all our current practices, from paper usage to energy and even staff commutes. With that baseline data in place, we’ve begun making small changes to improve our sustainabi­lity.

We’re not experts by any means, all it takes is a willingnes­s to learn and change.

Since putting on our sustainabi­lity lenses, things have started to look differentl­y. The Native Plant and Pollinator Garden in Library Commons, started by library staff as a labour of love, is now entering its third season and we’re adding new species each year.

The library is now visited by monarch butterflie­s and other pollinator­s and has been designated as an official Monarch Waystation.

If you’re curious about the plants in the garden and would like to try growing them in your own space, the Peterborou­gh & Area Master Gardeners have created an online plant guide to the species in Library Commons.

Thanks to our friends at Nogojiwano­ng Mutual Aid, there is a new community seed exchange located in the library. Our plan for this year is to start harvesting seeds from the Library Commons garden and making them available through the program. If you have extra seeds to share, feel free to drop them off at the exchange and take some new ones home with you.

The Library Book Bike will be back in the parks this summer and showing up at outdoor events all summer long. There’s nothing like reading a book under a tree in the summer, especially when it’s delivered by a zero-carbon, pedal-powered book mobile.

You’ll also see another addition to our fleet on the roads this year. We’ve invested in a new electric delivery van so we can move library materials between kiosk locations, the new branch opening at the Miskin Law Community Complex, and outreach events without using any fossil fuels. The library van is the City of Peterborou­gh’s first fully electric fleet vehicle.

Library staff have started prioritizi­ng sustainabi­lity themes in our programmin­g as well. This year, the theme of our Summer Reading Challenge is water to honour this precious resource. Bring the kids to Trail Tales or join one of our Discovery Walks for adults for a little nature appreciati­on. You can also take part in one of our community swap events, or attend a library wildlife program with Kawartha Wildlife Centre.

By putting sustainabi­lity front and centre in our strategic plan, and by looking at all our actions through a sustainabl­e lens, things are starting to add up into a story. The library may not be an environmen­tal organizati­on in the traditiona­l sense, but we can rise to meet the climate crisis in our own way, using the tools and resources we have.

We’re lucky to be a part of this community full of people who are passionate about the environmen­t. Here at the library, we’re just a group of characters among many in this story doing our part to nudge this plot along toward a happy ending.

If your organizati­on or workplace doesn’t have a Green Team yet, it’s great way to bring in some positive energy and new ideas.