IU Libraries names sustainability officer

IU’s ongoing effort to become “greener” has sparked action from the campus library system.

After taking recommendations from its own sustainability task force, the IU Bloomington Libraries named Kathy McCarnes, director of business affairs and facilities, to the newly formed position of sustainability officer.

The creation of the new position is part of an effort to make the University a more sustainable environment, an area in which IU has traditionally lagged behind.

The announcement came shortly after The College Sustainability Report Card’s 2009 grade reports, in which IU earned a C+. IU’s poor track record in sustainability led library administrators to assemble their own task force to outline how the library system could contribute to the “green” cause.

Steven Sowell, the chairman of this task force, ultimately recommended to campus officials that a permanent committee, dedicated to improving library sustainability, was needed.

“The libraries have a role to raise awareness around campus, not just among staff but with students and faculty as well,” Sowell said.

The task force allowed Patricia Steele, the Ruth Lilly Dean of University Libraries, to promote McCarnes to a position where sustainable practices could be encouraged and taught to everyone involved with the University.

“It is a challenge for all of us to change our thinking,” Steele said, “but we see ourselves in an educational role.”

The preliminary goals of the new task force include promoting the use of recycled paper and changing to more efficient technology to eliminate wasted energy.

McCarnes will head the committee that will pursue these goals, but since the committee itself has yet to be formed, these goals may be far from realization.

“The whole area is evolving, and we are at such an infancy stage,” McCarnes said. “We are all very aware and are working toward incorporating environmentally aware practices.”

One of the biggest challenges this committee will face is a lack of sufficient funding to implement sweeping change. A tight budget might mean the sustainability committee will have to start small and work to encourage greener lifestyles on an individual level.

Nevertheless, Sowell hopes these goals, combined with the efforts of the already-established IU Task Force on Campus Sustainability, will begin to bring sustainability to the forefront of the University’s agenda.

“Hopefully one of the outcomes of this process is to have a more unified approach to sustainability,” he said.

Despite the early difficulties, Steele remains optimistic that the libraries can make great progress in improving the “green” culture at IU.

“The people who work in the libraries really want to see the libraries take a role,” Steele said. “I think the campus is responding very aggressively.”