Librarians’ Attitude Towards Providing Environmental Education Services in Florida

Abstract

It has been three decades since ALA created the Task Force on the Environment (TFOE) in 1989 and since the emergence of the Green Library Movement in early 1990s. It’s crucial to reflect upon library’s current work on promoting environmental awareness and literacy in their community. Most LIS literature on this subject has been reporting individual cases on greening library buildings, operation, and practice, and providing green library services. There is still the need for more empirical research that examines libraries’ perception of the importance of environmental sustainability and the roles libraries could play. This study surveyed librarians from the state of Florida to determine their attitude towards providing environmental education services and the current services they are providing. The results show that more than 75% of respondents show positive attitudes towards providing information resources and environmental literacy education in libraries. About 75% of the respondents also agree that libraries should support other community organizations in promoting environmental awareness. Though most Florida libraries provide information resources on environmental issues, they do not actively provide environmental literacy education or conduct community outreach. Findings from this study will inform library professional organizations such as ALA on how to better support member libraries on this important issue.