All, hope you are well.
Network Meeting – 7 October 2021 @ 10.30am – register now, link below
Please join us on 7th October. We will have lots of time for information sharing, peer support/advice, receiving updates from national and local meetings and more. We will also be joined by Sam Brown, Director and Co-Founder of a strategy and innovation consultancy for responsible businesses and digital and emerging technologies, and a freelance strategic communications and business coach. Sam is doing some amazing work, and will talk about how to connect libraries to the priorities of the UK and the world at the moment – around technology, democracy, and climate change.. Sam will join us after 11am. Register here: Network Meeting – October 2021 Tickets, Thu 7 Oct 2021 at 10:30 | Eventbrite
Terracycle and the Environment at Harbury Village Library
Recycling Boxes
Over the last 6 months Harbury Village Library has become more engaged with environmental groups in our village. The first step was taken when we were approached by the Harbury Environmental Group and asked if we would host some Terracycle recycling boxes in the library foyer. Since we already hosted boxes for Food Bank donations and a box for donations of Hedgehog Food, we agreed. In no time at all we had installed Terracycle-provided recycling boxes for used Marigold gloves, and their packaging, and for toothbrush heads and other dental care products.
We now plan to install recycling boxes for bras, organised through Bravissimo who make a donation to Coppafeel for every kg of bras donated. We will also host a collecting box for empty medication blister packs organised by SuperDrug in cooperation with Terracycle. We have, however, politely declined the opportunity to host a recycling box for empty crisp packets.
As well as simply being a good thing to do, the initiative results in people coming into the library who might not do so otherwise.
Recycling Poster Competition
In parallel with organising recycling boxes the same environmental group launched a competition for children to create a poster explaining why recycling is important for the planet. They again approached the library and we agreed not only to help publicise the competition, but to provide prizes of books about the environment for the winners in each of two age groups. We also arranged for two graphic design professionals, who are also library volunteers, to judge the competition. After the judging we will display all of the entries in the library. This is one of the competition entries.
Moths to a Flame
Since Summer Reading Challenge 2021 had an environmental theme we decide to hold a children’s activity afternoon that mirrored this. Serendipitously we discovered the Moths to a Flame project being run by the Art and Energy collective in Plymouth. They are encouraging people throughout the country to make 20,000 glow in the dark moths out of plastic milk bottles which will then be brought together in a single art installation in Glasgow in time for the COP26 climate conference in November.
The Thursday afternoon event was a “sell out” and we created 21 milk bottle moths to send off to the conference. Probably the same number of moths went home with their creators. The children were also encouraged to write down what they want world leaders to do about the climate crisis and these too will be delivered to Glasgow.
What next?
Probably we’ll just take a deep breath before embarking on our next project, but we can be sure that if we don’t think of something, someone else in the village certainly will, and because we’re now recognised as a welcoming hub for such ideas, they’ll certainly come to Harbury Village Library first for help.
Thank you.
Community Managed Libraries National Peer Network 