Inspired by the leadership of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), and library colleagues, associations, and institutions around the world, the OISE Library team has developed our first Sustainability & Climate Action Plan. We see our plan as an important first step in the contributions that the OISE Library, as one of the largest education libraries in Canada, can make to sustainability and climate initiatives that impact our institutions, our communities, and beyond. Our Sustainability & Climate Action Plan builds on work that is already underway and outlines three Focus Areas with strategies and actions that can be taken over the next two years (2024-26) to ensure that the OISE Library contributes to a path toward sustainability and act as a positive agent of change at the University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) and beyond.
Summary
The OISE Library’s goals in developing this plan are to align with the University of Toronto’s climate and sustainability initiatives, OISE’s Sustainability & Climate Action Plan, and sustainability and climate-focused initiatives with social and climate justice work. The OISE Library’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan takes steps to address the accelerating climate crisis from within the academic libraries context. It puts forward a set of three key areas of focus, 12 strategies, and 35 action items that can be implemented locally at the OISE Library and measured over the course of the next two years. The plan recognizes the deep connections between sustainability efforts, climate justice, and social justice.
The plan's three key focus areas include:
- Supporting teaching & learning for sustainability and climate change: This focus area includes developing and delivering information literacy programming, creating instructional resources, strengthening sustainability-focused resources and collection practices, and expanding open programming and events at the OISE Library.
- Leveraging community partnerships: This focus area involves collaborating on and promoting sustainability initiatives and research at OISE, contributing to scholarship and professional initiatives related to sustainability and climate action within the Canadian academic library community, and opening channels of communication across UTL.
- Built environment and operations: This focus area includes identifying and exploring existing frameworks and models for sustainability in libraries, exploring opportunities for facility and services improvements at OISE Library, and leveraging opportunities related to existing and alternative equipment/supplies purchasing and collections acquisitions models for libraries.
Download a PDF of the complete plan at the bottom of this page (two options) or view the plan in your browser here.
Acknowledgements
The OISE Library Sustainability & Climate Action Plan was made possible by members of the OISE Library team who have already been, and will continue to play a crucial role in executing and advancing the initiatives described in this plan to achieve our commitment to sustainability and climate action. Thank you to OISE students and University of Toronto Libraries colleagues who read various drafts of the plan. We would also like to thank Julie Hannaford and Dr. Hilary Inwood, who both provided thoughtful feedback on the final draft. Finally, thank you to Nicole Slattery, the Toronto Academic Libraries Intern (TALint) for Environmental Partnerships & Initiatives, who worked diligently on the research and development of this plan and on sustainability initiatives at the OISE Library from 2022-24.