What is Green Libraries Week?

Libraries Week takes place annually in the second week of October to celebrate the innovative and diverse activities that UK libraries offer. In 2023 Libraries Week was transformed into Green Libraries Week. This aim is to showcase the inspirational work of libraries in encouraging climate action and sustainability.

“The success of Green Libraries Week shows that going green isn’t about the size of the action you take, but that any action can make a difference for the environment.”

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professional
Green Libraries Week 2024

How can you get involved?

Throughout this week libraries across the UK will be offering workshops and events to engage their communities in thinking about the environment. A few activities to note include:

  • The Scottish National Library is running a workshop encouraging attendees to engage with their rich climate change collection, including coastal maps, leaflets created by local activist groups, and more.
  • Nottingham City Libraries are running a ‘Swap Shop’ so that members of the community can exchange unwanted items. Thus reducing the amount headed for landfill.
  • The British Library is running a webinar to reflect on library initiatives that harness the potential of imagination to inspire climate action. This will include mention of the Climate Action Almanac.
  • Leeds Libraries are running a range of events. ‘Story and Rhyme Special’ , for example, hopes to encourage children to appreciate nature and care for the world around them.

“Libraries have shown their flexibility and ingenuity in support of a better climate future […] they are using the physical and virtual spaces to support library users in going green, and supporting the local communities that they serve to support climate action.” 

DCMS Libraries

Exact Editions and Green Libraries Week

The Exact Editions platform provides access to a range of magazines and journals which help raise awareness of climate change.

An example of this is the Environmental Studies Collection. The collection showcases 11 leading magazines, including Geographical, Resurgence & Ecologist and Ethical Consumer. From organic farming and gardening, to wildlife conservation and geopolitics, these titles promise to offer positive inspiration and an insight into ecology.

Alongside this, the Exact Editions Climate Crisis Page is a freely available learning resource about the Climate Crisis. The page features articles from over 50 different publications.

Screenshot of the Exact Editions’ Climate Crisis Page.
The Exact Editions’ Climate Crisis Page

The Green Libraries Week Magazine Collection

To help raise awareness this Green Libraries Week, Exact Editions have also put together a special collection of issues which hone in on four key environmental themes: Oceans, Energy Choices, International Climate Politics and Biodiversity. Read some of the articles included in the Green Libraries Week Collection below:

All That Glitters
BBC Wildlife Magazine, September 2021, Page 42.

“Dazzling in light and in colour, hummingbirds have long captured our imagination. But these spectacular birds are vulnerable to a changing world.”

Image of a hummingbird taken from BBC Wildlife Magazine, the September 2021 issue.

Creating a Climate for Real Change
The Progressive, June/July 2020, Page 55.

“The Green New Deal is only a starting point toward a sustainable future.”

Oil in a Material World
Resurgence & Ecologist, November/December 2022, Page 52.

“I set out to produce an epic 70-metre-long embroidered history of oil […] I wanted to provide people with an understanding of the forces at work that led to climate breakdown.”

Sandra Sawatzky, The Black Gold Tapestry - a screenshot of a section of the tapestry showing people wearing masks, a polluting factors and a truck full of coal.
Sandra Sawatzky, The Black Gold Tapestry

Planet Earth: A Matter of Life and Death
European Photography, Number 106, Page 52.

“Planet Earth in Distress: We present five photobooks dealing with the state of our environment — five sad truths between documentation and fiction.”

Mandy Barker, Altered Ocean. Soup: Burnt, 2011 - the mag shows degraded and burnt blue, red and yellow plastic floating in a black space.
Mandy Barker, Altered Ocean. Soup: Burnt, 2011.

Is it too late?
New Internationalist, May/June 2022, Page 65.

“As climate change stretches human fragility towards breaking point, should we be preparing for societal collapse?”

The image shows a woman stood in a croud of protestors wearing a face mask and glasses, holding up two big pink hands which say 'Major danger Carbon Majors' and 'Act Now or Talk to The Hand'.

Click here to explore the Exact Editions Green Libraries Week Collection.

Individual digital subscriptions to magazines are available in the Exact Editions shop. If you are looking to subscribe on behalf of a library, you can view the wide range of digital magazines available here.

Find out more about Exact Editions’ digital publishing solutions here, or contact us at info@exacteditions.com.

**All Reading Room links to the magazines will expire on 6th Jan 2025.**