Going Green: Sustainable Practices in Philippine Libraries

Abstract

Purpose/objectives. This study aims to investigate on the sustainability practices of Philippine libraries. It intends to identify where Philippine academic libraries are in the “green” continuum.

Significance of the study. Greening libraries is rarely talked about in Philippine libraries. This study is a modest contribution to the dearth of literature on greening Philippine libraries. Results of the study hopes to stimulate the interest of library administrators and bring awareness to other stakeholders on the current state of libraries in the Philippines as far as “greening” is concerned, so they can either start or further advance their greening initiatives.

Design, methodology, approach. Descriptive survey method was employed for this study with the Preliminary Green Assessment Checklist developed by McBane Mulford and Himmel as instrument. The respondents consisted of active members of the Philippine Association of Academic/Research Libraries, Inc. (PAARL) or those that have attended the organization’s activities in the last two years.

Findings. 68.75% of the surveyed libraries received green rating; 31.25% got yellow; and none fell under red. The overall rating for all libraries is 149.12 which is within the green zone. This only proved to show that Philippine libraries are obviously taking small but crucial steps towards greening their libraries. Research limitations and implication (if applicable). While the survey questionnaire was sent to 206 librarians, only 32 (15.53%) accomplished the form.

Originality of the paper: The study is the first and so far, the only study which attempted to gauge where Philippine libraries are in the green continuum.