Green Initiatives Highlighted for Libraries Week

October 2, 2024

Green Libraries Week will return and run from 7-13 October 2024, celebrating libraries with a focus on the climate and sustainability. In 2023, Libraries Week went Green, with libraries from Jersey to John O’Groats hosting more than 290 environmental and sustainability activities from 2nd-8th October.

The Green Libraries campaign is growing. Libraries across the UK and beyond have been working hard to bring climate action and awareness to their communities as part of CILIP’s Green Libraries Partnership. The campaign encourages libraries to actively reduce their carbon footprint and increase awareness of environmental issues for the wider public by providing accessible resources.

The Green Libraries Wales Small Grant Fund was set up in 2022 to seed fund projects in Wales as part of the Green Libraries Partnership. The fund aimed to support small-scale exploratory programmes, activities and knowledge-sharing within libraries in Wales seeking to improve overall understanding and take actions to demonstrate Environmental Responsibility.

Ground breaking Green Libraries Wales projects announced by CILIP Cymru Wales include growing food in library makerspaces, staff carbon literacy training, themed plant displays, and nurturing new national conversations about climate change. The Kathleen Cooks Panel were so impressed by the applications that they agreed to fund the three projects in full to ensure success.

Vale of Glamorgan Libraries – Space to Grow
Natural Resources Wales Information & Library Service and Gwynedd Libraries – ‘Convenient Truth’
Cardiff University Library Service – Increasing staff carbon-literacy & sustainable project visibility

Green Libraries Week in Wales

The following are some of the Green Libraries initiatives & activities taking place in Wales this year during Green Libraries Week and beyond:

Blaenau Gwent Libraries

Libraries vs Litter project – Local school classes are regularly invited into the Blaenau Gwent library branches where they gather a kit and conduct a litter pick, then return to the branch to relax and enjoy the books as a reward. This has been hugely popular. They have a special event during Green Libraries Week in collaboration with Keep Wales Tidy. Library staff will be leading a litter pick along the Ebbw Fawr trail with local Year 4 pupils.

Little Pickers -Blaenau Gwent Libraries will be launching their newest initiative – Little Pickers – Libraries vs Litter but for small children! They have small, child friendly litter pickers and have planned an event with Nursery and Reception age children. The aim is to encourage children from a very young age to associate the library with helping the environment and teaching them about looking after the environment responsibly.

Outdoor Story Day – The library service will be holding an outdoor story day, and have invited Year 2 pupils to join staff in the park, to enjoy a story and learn about the seeds that trees produce to ensure more trees for the future. They will be gathering conkers, acorns, pine-cones, ash keys and sycamore helicopters, just like the fox in the story!

Fancy Dress Swap – Blaenau Gwent Libraries will be encouraging recycled living and sustainability by having a costume swap, and asking families to donate their unwanted fancy dress costumes during Green Libraries Week, to eliminate waste and cost.

Craft Activities – There will be craft activities available in all library branches using recycled materials, similar to the Marvellous Makers Sessions supporting the Summer Reading Challenge this summer. Adult art classes will also be available that week – they will be making Autumn Lanterns from recycled materials!

Caerphilly Libraries

Caerphilly Library Service are planning a fantastic range of events led by Community Librarian Laurence Batten.

Author visits – Sophie Zalayet will be presenting her new children’s book – Look Out! Look Out! There is a Litter Bug about! (in Welsh Dyna Fe! Dyna Fe! Sbwrfilyn y Dre) – a fun, light-hearted story endorsed by Keep Wales Tidy. She will be hosting sessions on Monday 7^th October at Risca Library at 10am and Caerphilly Library at 1pm. Classes from local schools will be visiting.

Tom Bullough will be hosting talks in Bargoed and Caerphilly Libraries on Saturday 19^th October, where he will be discussing his award-winning book, Sarn Helen. The event is free but booking is essential.

Litter Picking – Eight Caerphilly Libraries sites are already Keep Wales Tidy Litter picking hubs where people can borrow equipment to carry out their own litter picks as individuals or groups.

Keep Wales Tidy are hosting litter picks at all library sites during Green Libraries Week:

Monday 7^th– Caerphilly Library 10am-11am; Rhymney Library 12pm-1pm
Tuesday 8^th– Risca Library 10am-11am; Abertridwr Library 12pm-1pm
Wednesday 9^th– Nelson Library 10am-11am
Thursday 10^th– Blackwood Library 10am-11am ; Bargoed Library 12pm-1pm
Friday 11^th -Ystrad Mynach Library 10am-11am

The recycling team will be joining many of the events going on in Caerphilly libraries to promote recycling and answer any questions from attendees.

Risca Library has arranged some events for Green Libraries week:

Tuesday 8^th – Green Toddler Time – ‘Join Risca Library for a story and songs with a focus on the environment!’ 11am-12pm
Wednesday 9^th – Junk Crafting ‘Use recycled materials and objects from nature to create interesting craft items’ 3.30-4.30pm
Saturday 12^th – Green-themed Story Time and Junk Crafting ‘Another chance to try some junk crafting, plus a fun story!’ 11am-12pm

Monmouthshire Libraries

Please Eat the Garden (PEG) Project – Thanks to the recent Monmouthshire Food Partnership grant scheme, a community garden has been set up at the Usk Community Hub and County Hall, with raised beds, seed station, water tubs, wildlife boxes, compost heaps and wooden benches so visitors can sit and enjoy the garden.

The PEG project provides opportunities to learn about food and growing, and nurture sharing culture at the project’s two sites . Where the PEG team propagate plants in green houses, anyone can get involved in growing and caring for plants, and go along and harvest the produce.

Usk Together for the Climate is an umbrella grouping for this and other local projects all contributing to making Usk more of a planet-friendly and climate conscious town with a strong community feel.

Torfaen Libraries

Children’s Craft session – Torfaen Libraries have an special U5s session planned on the Monday of Green Libraries Week – to make a leaf wreath from recycled magazines, leaves & acorns.

Story & Song Sessions at the Library – The Green Libraries Week sessions will take place at the library where staff will share themed stories and songs and look at what we find in our rubbish, how we can put it to better use and how recycling happens in Torfaen.

Wrexham Libraries

Bug Hotel – During Green Libraries Week, Wrexham Libraries will be running a children’s craft session in Brynteg Library to make a Bug Hotel out of recycled tin cans. They will also be setting up a special themed book display to encourage library users to checkout books on the Green theme.

Green-themed storytime – A green themed storytime will take place daily during Green Libraries Week at Gwersyllt Library.

Daily Book Promotion – Wrexham Libraries have planned a special social media promotion for Green Libraries Week, with a different book and blurb being posted daily on the Wrexham Libraries social media pages.

A Green Libraries Week display will feature titles on sustainable living, eco-friendly practices and environmental awareness, including books to help you:

find out more about climate change, renewable energy, eco-friendly lifestyles and nature conservation
create a sustainable home with practical tips for energy saving, waste reduction and eco-friendly DIY
begin eco-conscious cooking, with plant-based recipes and tips to reduce food waste
grow your own food with sustainable gardening guides
reduce your carbon footprint with green travel and low-waste living advice

Denbighshire Libraries

Seed Library – Rhyl Library have launched their very own Seed Library, where a selection of seeds have been made available for members of the public to come along and help themselves, along with a display of books encouraging people to grow their own vegetables and flowers, and be more sustainable.

Neath Port Talbot Libraries

Neath Port Talbot will be taking part in a wealth of initiatives/projects to support Green Libraries Week:

Better World Books – NPT Libraries donate old library stock to Better World Books. This saves the books from going to landfill and gives them new life.

Sustainability – Libraries order books from Askews and Holts Library Services, who are committed to minimising and reducing the effect their operations have on the environment.

Children’s Craft sessions – Nature based crafts for children have been planned in the library to encourage them to use natural materials and learn about nature including a bug hotel.

Jewellery workshop & craft group – Port Talbot Library run a jewellery workshop that uses beads from donated broken jewellery to give them a new lease of life. The library also runs a craft group that pools together unwanted craft materials to make things in the group.

Carbon Literacy Training – Library staff have attended a Carbon Literacy Course organised by Welsh Government. The Course gives an understanding of climate change, the scale of its effects, and how museums, archives and libraries fit into the global, national and local picture to address climate change issues.

Swansea Libraries

Look out for the following events at Swansea Libraries to support Green Libraries Week:

October 7th 11am, Oystermouth library – Rae Howells, author of The Language of Bees and This Common Uncommon
8th & 11th October – Mioe Creative will be working with two school groups – Mask making of endangered British animals & finding book containing these animals in the library, and discussion about what ‘endangered’ means and what we can do to better support them in our own lives.
Wednesday 8th October 3.30-4.30, Penlan library – Story and craft sessions – make your own bug hotel and grow your own tree.
Thurs 10th October 4pm, Oystermouth Library – ‘Recycled Creations’ Craft event

All Swansea Council libraries will be displaying books and materials relating to this years Green Libraries Week as well as social media assets.

Awen Libraries

Read about the wealth of projects happening in Awen Libraries to support the Green Libraries campaign:

Read, Reuse, Repeat! – In 2023-24, over 361 items were borrowed, returned and borrowed again from Awen Libraries, including books, DVDs, iPads and even footballs. That’s a lot of reuse!

Electric Delivery Van – Awen Libraries are replacing their current diesel delivery van with an electric vehicle, as they play their part in helping Wales achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Solar panels providing electricity – The refurbishment of Betws Library (October 2024-February 2025) will include the installation of LED lighting and a battery to store surplus electricity from their existing array of solar panels.

Arts Factory & book donations– Any books no longer used are either sent to Arts Factory – a social enterprise in Ferndale – for resale, donated to children in Africa or sent for recycling.

Books 4U service – Awen Libraries manage the Books 4U service in South Wales. If they don’t have the book you want, they can borrow it from another library, reducing the need for multiple copies and reducing paper.

Eco-friendly Summer Reading Challenge prizes – They are working hard to replace the non-biodegradable prizes used during the Summer Reading Challenge with eco-friendly versions, to reduce the amount of single-use plastic.

Recyclable Craft materials – They are reducing the amount of new craft materials they use, by running activities using recyclable materials, such as junk modelling and making flowers from old book pages.

Powys Libraries

Bug Hotel Workshop – Over the summer holidays, Powys Libraries ran a Bug Hotel/ Bug Library workshop for children and their families / carers at Newtown Library. It was a great success with many participants. All materials were recycled and almost completely natural apart from some recycled plastic used to line the roof. The roof was planted with a variety of wild and creeping thyme and sedum to attract insects, and it’s now situated in the library courtyard, a nice sunny spot with a ‘rainbow’ bench. The workshop was accessible to a range of groups and there was wheelchair access for disabled participants.

Wildflower planters – Powys Libraries have received funding from Keep Wales Tidy to install wildflower planters. They will be built on Monday 7th October and the Newtown Cylch Meithrin group will be coming along to help. During the workshop they will be discussing all the insects and animals that the flowers will attract. It’s also a great way to build the library’s relationship with the Cylch Meithrin and giving younger children a connection with the library.

Both projects will help join up the dots a little more for wildlife in the town, they will enhance the space and are accessible to those with disabilities to enjoy or work on. They will provide a sensory experience at the library with new sights (flowers, butterflies etc), smells (from thyme, honeysuckle, lavender etc), plants to touch and enjoy and the sounds of the birds and insects the projects will attract. Also, from a wellbeing perspective library staff have already seen people using more of the space and relaxing there.

Recycling Roadshows – Throughout the week, Powys Libraries will be hosting recycling roadshows where users can find out how to make the most of recycling boxes at home and help the environment by making sure to recycle as much of your waste as possible and make sustainable choices. They will be held at the following venues:

Monday, 7 October, 9:30 – 13:00 Machynlleth Library
Tuesday, 8 October, 10:00 – 14:00 Newtown Library
Wednesday, 9 October, 10:00 – 14:00 Brecon Library/Y Gaer
Thursday, 10 October, 10:00 – 14:00 Ystradgynlais Library
Thursday, 10 October, 9:30 – 12:30 Llanfyllin Library
Friday, 11 October, 10:00 – 14:00 Llandrindod Wells Library/Gwalia

Cllr. Jackie Charlton, Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys said: “We can all do our bit to help reduce our impact on climate change and improve our environment by making more sustainable choices.

“Using libraries to borrow books, and all the other great things on offer, instead of buying new is the perfect way to combat consumerism and help us all reduce, reuse and recycle within our everyday lives. During this Green Libraries Week, why not pop into your local library and find out more about recycling, and how you can do more.”

Keep in touch with Green Libraries Week events on the Libraries Week X and website.