Sustainability as a social practice: Green Libraries Project
IFLA ENSULIB Newsletter, 3 (2):
14-15 (2023)French Institute of South Africa; Goethe-Institutes; Libraries; South Africa; Sustainability.Abstract
There is a commonly known expression that goes ``When an elder person passes a way, a library burns to the ground''. In many African cultures, elder people play a vital role in the community: they are the custodians of tradition, the rock of the family unit and the bearers of wisdom. The library is of similar importance. It is a public space where knowledge is housed and created, and a place where people go to learn. A core principle of a library is that it is accessible and relevant to the context in which it exists, otherwise it may not attract the people for whom it is intended. Libraries do not have to be framed as the place of deafening silence and stringent rules. They can be a meeting ground for curious minds, a space of innovation and reflection, a place of learning and growing. What form can the library take? What role can it play in its respective neighbourhood and community? What does sustainability look like in such a place and why is that even important? A project conceived and implemented between Goethe-Institut and the French Institute of South Africa with the support of the Franco-German fund sought to explore the very question: how can libraries practice sustainability?