For Immediate Release
August 21, 2024

                                                                       Rogers Memorial Library is Certified Sustainable
                                The Sustainable Libraries Initiative Recognizes Rogers Memorial Library as a Leader in Sustainability

                   

                          Suffolk County, NY–August 21, 2024–Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton, NY has been designated as a Certified Sustainable Library through the Sustainable Library Certification Program (SLCP).

Rogers Memorial Library has furthered its dedication to the community by enhancing sustainable efforts, establishing itself as a prominent leader and invaluable community asset. Rogers Memorial Library embraces its role as a leader and serves as a role model for libraries, patrons, and community organizations in addressing social, financial, and environmental challenges.

“This has been a long journey and I am so proud of our staff. We had been on our way to completing the initiative and then Covid put the brakes on and actually had us reverse some of our work. It was a tough few years and I am grateful for our team’s focus and determination to get back on track!” said Director of Rogers Memorial Library Elizabeth Burns. “Becoming certified through the Sustainable Library Certification Program is a component of our newly drafted Strategic Plan and we are thrilled to have crossed the finish line. The certification process gave us a focus on how we could align our library’s core values and resources not to simply exist, but to thrive and continue our efforts at being environmentally sound, socially equitable, and economically feasible leading our community for generations to come.”

Starting with a firm foundation with a thorough sustainability policy that addresses decision-making in seven different topic areas, Rogers Memorial laid the groundwork for many of their sustainable practices. A building maintenance system was installed, giving the library more control over the building helping reduce energy use. Their dedication to the triple bottom line is proven through the encouragement to community members to put sustainability into practice with additions of a community garden, a bike repair station and providing patrons recycling options with programs offering shredding and electronics recycling.

“Rogers Memorial Library’s sustainability team did an in-depth analysis of their policies, procedures, and services while undertaking the SLCP action items,” said Lindenhurst Memorial Library Director - and Rogers Memorial’s SLCP mentor - Lisa Kropp. “They created a strong environment for both future community and staff members, to recognize the importance of sustainable practices in the areas of financial equity, social equity and environmental issues, and how the library is seen as a local leader in regard to sustainable practices.”

With this achievement, Rogers Memorial Library becomes the twenty-fifth public library to become designated as a sustainable library through the SLCP: an award-winning benchmarking system and community of practice designed to provide public libraries, academic libraries, library systems, and school librarians with exclusive resources and guidelines to shift towards a cleaner, greener, and more equitable future.

Carol O’Connor, Sustainability Coordinator for the Rogers Memorial Library, shared the following sentiment after the library’s official certification:

“I am excited to report that we have achieved our goal and been designated as a Certified Sustainable Library through the Sustainable Library Certification Program (SLCP). I believe this is just the beginning, and our work has just begun, as we strive to meet the standards put forth in our new policies. We will work to be more environmentally sound, socially equitable and economically feasible for our staff, patrons, and community.”

As an ongoing commitment to sustainability, and a rightful demonstration of pride in everything they have accomplished, Rogers Memorial Library has promised to continue exploring new avenues for improvement. The library aims to evaluate and encourage feedback from patrons to better shape the internal services and programs to ever-changing community needs: expanding their reach, allowing individuals to take an active role within their library, and shattering the stereotype that modern-day libraries are “just books.”

View Rogers Memorial Library's Certification Presentation