People come to libraries to read and take out books, chat with their neighbours, and borrow the latest movies, but perhaps above all else, they come to learn.
That’s the thinking behind Climate Future, West Vancouver Memorial Library’s new community-driven initiative and program which aims to see the library do its own critical part in responding to the climate emergency.
Library staff have been hearing more and more from West Vancouverites who want to know more about climate change and achievable actions they can do in their everyday life to combat it, according to Pat Cumming, head of the library’s customer and community experience department.
“In this particular case, we’re trying to engage the community not only in education but also in dialogue around actions. A lot of times with climate change, people feel helpless or there’s a lot of information out there and they’re not sure what to believe and what not to believe,” said Cumming.
A trio of Community Cafés are being organized for concerned citizens to come together and brainstorm ways to reduce our collective carbon footprint, according to Cumming, adding the ideas put forward during these sessions will be used in the library’s development of a climate action toolkit, educational reading challenge, and upcoming library workshops and lectures.
“This is a way to give people a chance to actually take some action – take some personal action – and potentially feel a little bit better about things,” said Cumming.
The first of the Community Cafés is scheduled for March 9, from 7 p.m to 8:30 p.m., at the library and is specifically geared for local teens who want to share knowledge and inspire action.
“One of the things about climate action is youth are very involved in the conversation, and so we wanted to have youth participation in this. We have a teen advisory group and so we’re building on that and asking them to participate in this,” said Cumming.
Two more sessions – one on March 12 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the library and another on March 16 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Park Royal South – are scheduled and open to the whole community, added Cumming.
The types of achievable actions that community members might bring up during the Community Cafés on our climate future could range from retrofitting properties, civic actions such as attending council meetings, or installing a rain garden, said Cumming.
The climate action toolkit the library plans to create is slated to launch on April 27, said Cumming, adding that community members can also look forward to an educational reading challenge that will run in tandem with the toolkit’s launch.
The reading challenge will likely include 10 works of non-fiction, five works of fiction, and five documentaries that will all examine the climate emergency, she said.
“There are a lot of people in West Vancouver who are very engaged in this process,” said Cumming.
Visit westvanlibrary.ca/climate-future for more information, including registering for a Community Café for the Climate Future initiative. If you’re unable to attend a session in person, ideas can also be submitted online.
