UCD Library wins coveted IFLA Green Library Award
Posted 9 October, 2024
The UCD Library has been named this year’s winner of the Green Library Award by the (opens in a new window)International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the global voice of the library and information profession.
The coveted prize was awarded to the UCD Library for its practice of upcycling, recycling and rehoming old furniture as part of the James Joyce Library Level 3 redevelopment.
This ongoing initiative has seen much of the old furniture from the library upcycled and offered to local communities, helping to divert it from landfill.
The majority of the upcycled study desks and chairs were original to the UCD Library when it was built in the 1970s.
We won the (opens in a new window)@IFLA 'Best Green Library Project' 2024 award!(opens in a new window)@UCDLibrary Furniture Recycling Team was on a global shortlist of library projects for its sustainable community initiative, finding new homes for old furniture as part of the James Joyce Library Level 3 redevelopment. (opens in a new window)pic.twitter.com/XM06oayisF
— UCD Library (@UCDLibrary) (opens in a new window)October 9, 2024
Announcing the winner this week, the IFLA judges said that the UCD initiative was a “clear, well developed (project) supporting SDGs and is to be praised for its comprehensive approach and positive community impact, serving as a model for libraries worldwide”.
Working with UCD Warp It, a web based, furniture reuse platform that is part of the a Green Campus initiative managed by UCD Estates, and using Facebook Marketplace, the UCD Library Furniture Recycling Team were able to donate hundreds of items to local schools and gaelscoils, community centres, after school programmes, Men’s Sheds, the St John of God Group, as well as to individuals in the UCD community.
Submitting the initiative under the title ‘Beyond the Lifecycle: Libraries Supporting the Circular Economy’ to the IFLA under its Green Library Project category, the UCD Library had been shortlisted alongside with four libraries from China, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.
The IFLA Green Library Award is given to libraries and projects that best communicate their commitment to environmental sustainability.
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
