Sustainability Principles

We support the University of Reading’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

We are committed to:

supporting and adhering to University Sustainability Services strategy via our ways of working and through our service provision.
reviewing systems, services and facilities regularly, exploring ways of improving sustainability wherever possible.
utilising nationally negotiated purchasing schemes and frameworks for cost effective acquisition of resources.
participating in reciprocal inter-lending schemes with other libraries (national and international) assuring sustainable access to resources.
capturing, preserving and maintaining access to research outputs and data deposits in support of Open Research practices.

We signed up to the Green Libraries Manifesto.
We offer withdrawn book stock freely to users (where appropriate).
We stopped covering our books in plastic.
We reuse envelopes and stationery where possible.
We recycle many different materials including paper, batteries, food, metal.
Light motion sensors and LED lights are found throughout the library.
We don’t provide paper receipts.
We shut the building during University closure days to save on energy.
We review stock stored offsite versus onsite to ensure in-demand material is locally held, reducing carbon emissions via transportation.
We have a Switch Off policy when leaving an office.
We have water fountains throughout the building.
We promote services and resources to increase use and value for money.
University of Reading theses are no longer stored in hard copy (e-versions only).
We are a Committee Member of the M25 Sustainability Group.

Take care of print library books so they last longer. Each time a print book is borrowed it saves 0.7kg of carbon compared to purchasing the book.
Bring your own reusable water bottle. You can refill it at one of our water fountains.
Bring your own reusable cup with a lid for hot drinks from the Café.
Print only the pages you need. Will a scan do instead? When printing is necessary, please print double sided.
Enable power saving settings on your laptop.
Switch off laptops / mobile devices when they are not in use.
Unplug chargers from the mains socket when devices are fully charged or disconnected.
Recycle paper, plastic, cardboard, and drinks cans at the waste points located through the library. Put the waste in the correct bin – please don’t contaminate recycling with wet or unsuitable waste.
Measure your carbon footprint.