Steppingstones to More Sustainable Public Libraries in Finland: From Individual Initiatives toward National Guidelines and Standards

Public libraries in Finland have a strong history of cooperating and networking. Implementing SDGs and steering the action toward sustainability, however, has been so far carried out mainly out by individual libraries. A larger consensus or common guidelines are still missing, be it designing a new building, customer design thinking or rearranging internal workflows.           This is to be changed, hopefully serving as an example to readers´ communities. The report presented current cases and current best practices on initiatives and concentrated on finding a broader common ground on sustainability work. Helsinki City Library will act as a nationwide accelerator and common voice promoting the step marks toward greener libraries. A nationwide expert network and community of practice is to be established as well. As one example of the development, the tight cooperation between public libraries and basic education in Finnish society will be discussed. For historical reasons public libraries operate to a large extent as school libraries, so the task of supporting curriculum on sustainability topics is a major task for public libraries as well. What does the future of this collaboration and its possibilities look like

Sustainability hides in libraries

Services, buildings, logistics, IT-equipment and much more – that is the library of today. These items are normally viewed from an economical point of view in a library’s yearly budget, but have libraries ever considered that they also have an impact on a library’s ecological sustainability? When you want to observe where and how ecological sustainability occurs in a library you should go beyond a purely economic analysis. By creating conditions for sustainable development, adding eco-efficiency as a measuring tool and generally acting in an environmentally friendly manner, library staff can assist in realizing the sustainability of the library.Dienstleistungen, Gebäude, Logistik, IT und vieles mehr – das ist die Bibliothek von heute. Normalerweise werden diese Elemente von einem ökonomischen Standpunkt im Rahmen eines Jahresbudgets betrachtet; doch wurde jemals daran gedacht, dass diese Themen auch einen ökologischen Effekt auf die Nachhaltigkeit einer Bibliothek haben können? Wenn man herausfinden möchte, wo und wie in einer Bibliothek auf ökologische Nachhaltigkeit Wert gelegt wird, muss man über die ökonomische Analyse hinausgehen. Die Einführung von Kriterien für nachhaltige Entwicklung, zusätzliche Eco-Effizienz als Messinstrument und das allgemeine umweltfreundliche Verhalten können helfen, die Nachhaltigkeit von Bibliotheken sichtbar werden zu lassen

Sähköiset oppimisympäristöt tiedonhallinnan opetuksessa : verkko-oppimisympäristöjen kehittäminen yleisissä kirjastoissa

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on selvittää verkko-oppimisympäristön käytön kehittämismahdollisuuksia yleisten kirjastojen tiedonhallinnan opetuksen työskentelyvälineenä. Tutkimuskohteina ovat olleet Kiravo-hankkeen luoma tiedonhallinnan digitaalinen opetuspaketti ja sen käytännön sovellus Helsingin kaupunginkirjastossa sekä Laurea ammattikorkeakoulun Keravan kirjaston reaaliaikainen e-oppimisympäristö tiedonhallinnan opetuksessa. Tutkimusmenetelminä on käytetty dialogia ja kyselyä. Selvitys antaa viitteitä siitä, että yleisten kirjastojen tulisi enemmän luoda mah-dollisuuksia erilaisiin opettamisen ja oppimisen ympäristöihin. Elinikäinen oppiminen, elämykselliset oppimisympäristöt ja vuorovaikutteinen oppiminen ovat elementtejä, jotka vaativat yleisten kirjastojen tiedonhallinnan opetuksen muutosta.This thesis is a review of the possibilities to develop the use of e-learning environments in information management in public libraries. For this review I have compared the use of e-learning environments in two different libraries: in Helsinki City Library where the material based on the Kiravo project has been used and in Laurea University of Applied Sciences´ library. As a research method I have used a questionnaire and dialogue with the library professionals. Based on the study, it seems that public libraries should enlarge the opportunities for e-learning. Based on the demand of lifelong learning, libraries should develop the use of ICT, move towards e-learning platforms and provide more digital educational material