News & Events

Libraries Green Team. From left to right: Teresa Reynolds, Mike Noth, Melissa Harding, Daniel Bruhn, Vern Wilkins, Jim Champion, Jennifer Chaffin. Not pictured: John Cash, Gary Charbonneau, Chanitra Bishop, Virginia Dearborn.

Congratulations to the Libraries as the latest Green Team to earn their Sprout Certification. To earn Sprout Certification, the Libraries team met 36 criteria in seven categories including education and outreach, resource use, recycling, sustainable computing, energy and built environment, transportation, and food.

Vern Wilkins, who has been the Libraries team leader for less than a year, has played a key role not only in achieving the Sprout certification, but in developing innovative ways to increase the level of sustainability at the libraries and on the IU campus. Here is Vern's account of his team's growth and future goals:

"The Libraries Green Team was formed in 2009, to fulfill one of the primary recommendations of 'Greening the IUB Libraries, A Call to Action', a report created by the Libraries Sustainability Task Force in 2008. The Green Team is dedicated to implementing the recommendations of the report and partnering with the Office of Sustainability to meet objectives at the campus level. Initially, our team focused primarily on the Green Team certifications offered by the Office of Sustainability. As we worked through our first two levels of certification, we expanded on the checklist items and used each task as a starting point for further sustainability efforts. We have participated in numerous events, including the Energy Challenge, and we are beginning to host our own events, with our first being a presentation by the Coal Free IU student group in April. Over the last year we have increasingly leveraged technology, including our Green Team's Sharepoint Intranet site, to better organize our efforts and allow for more effective collaboration in the time between our regular monthly meetings. One of our short-term goals includes completing a strategic plan for our Green Team, a more concise version of our original task force's final report, to help guide our efforts. We are also focusing on opportunities to further engage library staff, and to collaborate more with internal and external partners. Longer term, we plan to work on specific projects tied to our strategic plan, and to acquire funding for projects via grant proposals and collaboration with our development office."

For more information about the Green Teams Program, visit the Green Teams website, or email the Green Teams coordinator at iugt@indiana.edu.

by Amy Allen (see original)