Green Libraries Week x Green Libraries Scotland Grant Fund

Category: #CILIPSGoGreen, Blog

by Kirsten MacQuarrie, CILIPS Sector Development Manager and Green Libraries Network Moderator

Have you met this year’s five fantastic Green Libraries Scotland Grant Fund recipients? As our 2024-25 green team share details of their projects-in-progress as part of Taking Root: Scotland’s Green Libraries – an exclusive two-part CILIPS podcast miniseries celebrating the growing story of library-led environmental action in Scotland – why not learn more about this wonderful work via the sustainability summaries below?

Drying Green Herbarium, Inverclyde Libraries

Project Lead: Michelle Crawford, Library Service Development Officer

A programme of engagement with local partners at The Watt Institution Herbarium, consisting of over a thousand specimens gathered primarily from Inverclyde and its vicinity in the late nineteenth century, to create The Drying Green Herbarium based around South West Library’s community garden. As the ‘dictionaries’ of the plant kingdom, Herbaria offer unique perspectives on the main drivers of pollution, habitat change, climate change and invasive species, and this project will educate the community about their importance whilst the library’s educational garden more broadly addresses food insecurity, eases local environmental impact, provides stress relief, and serves as a safe space for community connection.

We’re thrilled to be a recipient of the Green Libraries Scotland Grant Fund. The Fund will be instrumental in furthering community engagement in both the garden and the library, highlighting the plant species we share our world with, and preserving a record of those species for future generations.

Growing Greener Highland Communities, High Life Highland Libraries

Project Lead: Julie Corcoran, Head of Libraries

A project to develop four pilot climate hubs in Dingwall, Caol, Wick and Ardnamurchan Libraries, growing community climate engagement and education. Activities will include the creation of two new seed libraries; an afterschool nature club for primary-aged children encouraging gardening, tree planting and recycling; community clean-ups; and new climate engagement book/ebook library collections.

High Life Highland is delighted by our success in securing Green Libraries Scotland Funding. In collaboration with our Countryside Rangers colleagues, the project will assist the organisation in empowering local communities to act on climate change. We are excited to be bringing this opportunity to our library spaces, for the benefit of all different age groups.

Mayfield Secret Garden, Stirling Libraries

Project Lead: Victoria Hutcheson, Community Information Librarian

A holistic approach to library-led environmental action that integrates education, community engagement, sustainability and technology by ‘taking back’ an overgrown garden space to benefit library and community centre users. The library will offer accessible workshops and educational programmes that blend the use of traditional library resources (books, e-books and e-magazines) with practical, outdoor learning experiences on themes like biodiversity and upcycling: using Mayfield Secret Garden as a base from which to lead intergenerational Citizen Science projects and work with Stirling Libraries’ existing Maker Space.

We are thrilled to receive Green Libraries Scotland Grant Funding for our Mayfield Secret Garden project. We hope to completely transform an unused and unloved space, allowing a beautiful garden to come to life, creating a vibrant and educational space that benefits the library and the local community. It will make such a huge difference. Let our garden grow!

Rambling Readers: Nurturing Natural Connections, North Lanarkshire Libraries

Project Lead: Gillian Hunt, Community Librarian

Growing a programme of outdoor walks for all ages to chat about books, the local environment and learn about local and global climate issues. Cumbernauld and Airdrie Libraries will function as Natural Connections Hubs where practical and participatory sessions are hosted, focusing on themes including bird-inspired storytelling, nature writing, sustainable upcycling craft and sewing, local conservation and natural heritage, and more.

We are delighted to receive funding to pursue our plans to create new outdoor programmes for two Town Centre libraries. Our Rambling Readers project aims to provide a new aspect to community and environmental information as well as inspire a love of reading about the greater natural world. Cumbernauld and Airdrie libraries will take up the challenge to’ Nurture Natural Connections’ , working with local charities and groups to promote the local environment and offer a range of walks, activities, and author talks.

Threads of Change – Making a difference one stitch at a time, West Dunbartonshire Libraries

Project Lead: Alison Crawford, Schools and Literacy Librarian

Utilizing local libraries to teach children and young people new skills that will allow them to adopt lifelong sustainable practices for them and their families through basic sewing, repairing, embroidery and customization. In a locality where 27.6% of children live in poverty, the fourth highest in Scotland, Threads of Change will equip youngsters disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis to reduce their carbon footprint in affordable and accessible ways, whilst also educating the community about the environmental and ethical impact of fast fashion, which contributes around 300,000 tonnes of waste to landfill in the UK alone.

We’re delighted to give the young people in West Dunbartonshire the opportunity to learn new skills that will allow them to adopt sustainable practices in a creative and practical way through the Threads of Change project.