We have now passed the point of no return: We have not acted fast enough to slow the increasing frequency and severity of the impacts of the climate emergency in our lifetime. From wildfires to hurricanes to derechos to tornados to extreme rain events, our future will be filled with more headlines like the ones we have most recently seen in Los Angeles, western North Carolina, and Lahaina. Even if we were to do everything “right,” climate scientists predict we have at least 30 more years of increasingly dire impacts from climate change.

We now find ourselves facing this reality with an incoming administration that has already declared plans to roll back environmental protections that would have helped us do things “right” for future generations.

So, what now?

This was the question I and my fellow cofounder of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI), Matthew Bollerman, posed to the SLI advisory board in December. Our board is made up of members from several states, including folks who lived through Superstorm Sandy, and witnesses to devastating floods and hurricanes in other parts of the country.

We debated the question for a good hour, sharing our fears, anger, and regrets, along with our thoughts on what might happen next. At the end of this cathartic conversation, we came to the consensus rather quickly that we’re not going to stop. What we have built through the SLI, in partnership with so many library stakeholders from around the country, is going in the right direction and we can’t stop now. What we are doing is too important. We see the work now as helping our peers navigate the bipartisan political landscape so that the right things happen, and the needs of our communities are addressed.

COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS

The key phrase in moving forward—regardless of where you live—is: community preparedness. The World Economic Forum has identified misinformation and disinformation as the most severe short-term (two years) risk the world faces. Second on the short-term list? Extreme weather events. Number one on the long-term (10 years) list is extreme weather events. The confluence of these two topics cannot be underestimated. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul just identified media literacy as a priority for the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

This is librarian workers’ space. We are information professionals, well positioned to combat misinformation and adept at working alongside other community partners to help communities prepare for both the acute, short-term impacts of extreme weather events and the dire need for stronger social cohesion that will be the key for communities to thrive in the face of long-term impacts of extreme weather events and misinformation.

WE ARE THE RIGHT INSTITUTION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Libraries are ubiquitous. Libraries are trusted. We combat misinformation. We defend the rights of readers. We bring neighbors together in nonpartisan spaces and combat social isolation on a daily basis. We lead by example, living our values out loud. How we proceed in this moment makes a difference to those around us.

My greatest hope is that libraries across the world recognize that our mission calls on us to be focused on climate adaptation, preparation, and helping communities create a new path forward in the face of what is predicted—and doing so with great urgency. Only by joining forces and working together can we adapt quickly enough to minimize the toll of the next extreme weather event that is sure to come. Be ready at home. Be ready at work. Read your municipality’s climate adaptation plan. Be a part of community preparedness work. Vote for candidates that make this—make us all—a priority. Do what you can, with what you have, from where you are, but rest when you need to. We are in this for the long haul. At the SLI we like to quip that sustainability is not a destination, it is a journey. I am glad to be on the journey with you all.

Rebekkah Smith Aldrich is Executive Director, Mid-Hudson Library System, Poughkeepsie, NY; cofounder of the award-winning Sustainable Libraries Initiative; a judge for LJ’s New Landmark Libraries; an LJ Mover & Shaker, and the principal author of the National Climate Action Strategy.