Rebekkah Smith Aldrich - Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Librarys Future in an Uncertain World

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REBEKKAH SMITH ALDRICH (MLS, LEED AP) serves as the coordinator for library sustainability at the Mid-Hudson Library System (New York). Her work has focused on library leadership, governance, marketing, and facility design, all with an eye toward inspiring financial investment in libraries. Rebekkah is the sustainability columnist for Library Journal, cochair of the New York Library Associations Sustainability Initiative, and a founding member of the American Library Associations Sustainability Round Table. Named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker, Rebekkah is a frequent national presenter and writer on the topic of leading libraries forward in smart, practical, and effective ways.

2018 by the American Library Association

Extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book; however, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

ISBNs

978-0-8389-1688-9 (paper)

978-0-8389-1696-4 (PDF)

978-0-8389-1695-7 (ePub)

978-0-8389-1697-1 (Kindle)

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Control Number: 2017052428

Cover design by Kimberly Thornton.

This book is for you and those you love.

When you read the acknowledgments, you will be introduced to Jeanne and Jean, two of three women in my life who died of cancer this past year. The third woman who died of cancer this past year was my sister-in-law, Kelly, whom I met in elementary school and who, you guessed it, introduced me to my husband, Adam.

I have debated whether to dedicate this book to them, in their memory. Cancer in humans has many ties to the poor environmental practices of multiple generations. But the more I thought about it, the more I kept coming back to the fact that we all love someone. We all love someone impacted by the disruption caused not only by poor environmental stewardship over many generations but by economic policies that are unfair and by social inequities that lead to discrimination based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and other factors out of our control.

We all love someone who, in the future, will be impacted by environmental, economic, and social policy decisions that are made today. Likely you are driven to do what you do in our profession by this love you have for your family and neighbors. Thankfully, we are powerful and can influence what the future will be.

So, in that vein, this book is dedicated to you, and to those you love, in hopes that tomorrow is brighter than today.

Be well. Be kind. Do good work. Good luck to us all.

In nature nothing exists alone.

RACHEL CARSON, SILENT SPRING

This book is evidence that no one walks through this world alone.

I am grateful to a very long list of colleagues and friends whom I have worked beside and learned from over the past eighteen years.

There is no doubt in my mind that I would never have done half of what I have done professionally without the mentorship, support, and tough love of Joshua Cohen, former executive director of the Mid-Hudson Library System. Josh has helped me create an ethos that has served me well: to do good work and to work on what matterswith a smile. His professional and personal support mean the world to me. Thank you, Josh.

To the member library directors, staff, and trustees of the Mid-Hudson Library System (MHLS) who are always striving to do their best for their communitiesthank you. That you invite me to be a part of your story is something I am humbled by. I have learned so much through my eighteen years of working with the sixty-six libraries of MHLS and the directors and thousands of library trustees who step up to make their communities a better place through their public library. We have tried and succeeded, and tried and failed, at many different things. But weve always learned together and together have created some wonderful libraries for the people of the Hudson Valley.

In the past year, we have lost two members of the MHLS familyJeanne Bogino, former director of the New Lebanon Library, and Jean Ehnebuske, former MHLS trustee and library advocate extraordinaire. I have felt their loss keenly as I wrapped up this book. They were two of my biggest cheerleaders: Jean was the first person to ask for my autograph when I was published in a real book in 2012. Jeanne and I started writing our books at the same time (Im not going to admit how long ago that was!), and we kept each other going when writing got tough (which it always does). They were both earnest, hardworking, caring women who understood the power of public libraries and were willing to fight to make sure others understood the same. I cant help but take this opportunity to acknowledge their influence and reflect on how lucky I was to have them in my life. Jean and Jeanne, thank you for always cheering me onwhen doubt sets in I can hear your voices telling me to keep going.

The New York Library Community is a special group of people. Warriors in the fight for library funding, wise and savvy strategists, hardworking and kind, they are the absolute best of what our profession has to offer. Without their strength, vision, and camaraderie, I dont think I would have gotten very far. The New York Library Community would be nothing without the New York Library Association (NYLA) to help us all connect and work together. From my early days on the board of the Leadership and Management Section (LAMS) of NYLA to membership on the NYLA Council to my current roles as the cochair of the NYLA Sustainability Initiative and NYLA Legislative Committee, I have had the distinct pleasure of working with people I admire and whom I aspire to be more like, and with many whom I am proud to call my friends. Thank you for helping to make good things happen. To my longtime LAMS friendsPat Kaufman, Richard Naylor, Rebecca Lubin, Claudia Depkin, Julie Kelsall-Dempsey, Gillian Thorpe, Frank Rees, Barbara Madonna, and Lauren Comitothank you. The NYLA Sustainability Initiative (NYLA-SI) might never have happened without your support and encouragement. To the Public Library Section, the Public Library System Directors Organization, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Suffolk County Library Association, Sandpebble, and Capirathank you for taking a chance and investing in the NYLA-SI.

To the NYLA Sustainability Initiative Committee members, a heartfelt thank you. Working with you has been a highlight of my career. To work with others who share a vision that libraries can and do and will change the world for the better is energizing and empowering. Your hard work and dedication shine through in all that you do. Thank you for stepping up. I am so excited to see what happens next. We call our committee members co-creators because the answers and work that are necessary to help libraries contribute to creating thriving communities cannot be done alone. We all have to pull together to find our way. I would like to acknowledge the energy, vision, and hard work of my fellow co-creatorsyou are vanguards!

• Victor CansecoSandpebble Builders, Southampton, New York
• Casey ConlinHaverstraw Kings Daughters Public Library, Garnerville, New York
• Jill DavisHendrick Hudson Free Library, Montrose, New York
• Claudia DepkinHaverstraw Kings Daughters Public Library, Garnerville, New York