With over 4.5 million visits annually, Salt Lake County Library Services is in a unique position to influence community members by their experiences in – and their perceptions of – our libraries. With arguably more visitors than any other public institution in County government, libraries assume several roles: as a repository for materials and information, as a place for services, and as a community gathering space. Jane Light in the book, How Green is My Library? (2010) reflects that a library has the “opportunity, and arguably the responsibility, to educate its users about sustainability and to serve as a model of best practices in sustainable design and operations.” We have found that our budget for utilities (electricity, gas and water) for our 18 library facilities has increased by $50,000 each year for the last several years. While some of the increase is due to rate increases, it’s also related to the behaviors of both staff and patrons. Through positive action, conversations and education, our goal is to influence the choices and decisions of library staff so that through the combined efforts of the 580 employees of the library system, the funds spent on utilities will show a net reduction in 2015.

Our Sustainability Initiative involves a number of activities, including:

• Creating a Library Profile for each building in our system. The profile will include the location, age and square footage of each building, whether it is a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) building, number of employees and their commuting patterns, a breakdown of each building system, and utility costs.
• Using the recommendations from the 2013 Post-Occupancy Evaluation on our LEED certified buildings to implement additional energy and money saving processes in our other buildings to increase their energy performance.
• Pilot various technologies, including: plug load control systems , wireless smart plugs, and watt metering devices
• Piloting an employee gardening space. Interested staff are volunteering as the champions of this effort. A small budget will be used to purchase seedlings and plants as well as soil amendments. The project kicked off with an open-house and almost 30 percent of the staff members expressed an interest to participate.
• Using environmentally friendly cleaning products. In waging our “war” on dirt and germs we often use petroleum-based cleaning products that have an impact on our health and environment. Our green cleaning program will reduce the exposure of patrons and staff to potentially hazardous chemical, biological, and particle contaminants which adversely impact air quality, health, building finishes, building systems, and the environment.
• Creating sustainable purchasing practices and policies.

We are collaborating with our County’s Contracts & Procurement Office to create a sustainable purchasing policy to purchase products in a manner that will protect the environment and public health, conserve natural resources, and minimize waste, including landfilling and incinerations, and reduce toxicity.

Through the reduced use of utilities, one of our LEED certified libraries is on target to reduce their annual energy costs from $45,877 to $25,620 – a savings of almost 56%! And this is just one library. The overall annual savings have not yet been realized, but are being tracked and compiled. We expect by next year to show energy cost savings for all of our libraries. We realize that the key to success lies at the feet of our employees. As we take the time to bring them along and educate and share with them relevant data about our energy consumption and our costs, they begin to appreciate how their individual actions contribute to a cumulative impact that is quite significant. As a result, behaviors change. By creating a variety of opportunities for each employee to participate and contribute they are able to make behavioral changes at a level they are most comfortable. We are reinforcing a culture of sustainability through the conversations and presentations made where results and progress are shared. Changing behaviors to embrace a more sustainability work environment will be an on-going effort that we expect will grow and expand, limited only by the commitment and creativity of our employees.