#BLA24 supporting education all over the world - 2024 focus on 0-5 but have supported women's education and other topics in past. Eg. In 2023 grant to Brent Libraries for Dress to Remember for dementia patients in Afro-Carribean communities. Makaton training in Dudley. Focus was local area in 2023.
#BLA24 children's books are often rejected for sale but as part of their literacy promotion work, they are frequently donated when still in great condition. Literacy grants made from other proceeds to countries from all around the world, Inc Madagascar, Eastern Europe, America, South Africa.
WHICH REMINDS ME.... did you all know that the M6 toll is built on zillions of pulped Mills & Boon??? #BLA24
... And working with the Open Library, or recycles them into animal bedding or loo roll. #BLA24
#BLA24 I completely forgot to start live posting because we were having the BLA AGM, but we're hearing from Better World Books, which is a for profit socially conscious business that takes old books from libraries and either gives them new life through donations, sales....
#bla24 Vanessa Jones from betterworld books covering sustainability and discards
#bla24 next years conference is in Stirling. Tentative dates are 25-27 June 2025
#bla24 Committee is currently without a chair. Any volunteers?
#bla24 proposal passed to investigate widening membership from institutions to individuals. This has been passed.
#bla24 AGM in full swing. Committe officers have delivered their updates and papers.
#BLA24 giving the example of Patagonia as a world leader in sustainability and reporting.
#BLA24 work out what you're measuring in, what framework for reporting, then how you're going to share it - glossy paper, web, video. They're actually doing this themselves at the moment because they're a fairly new company group.
#BLA24 new drive towards not just collecting data and narrative - need to start evidencing. Evidence, measure, monitor and report.
#BLA24 levels of action - from nothing to sector leadership. Goes on to describe how institutions can get started with sustainable work and how. All staff and teams need to be involved.
#BLA24 Colin points out there's way too many acronyms and frameworks but the things to pay attention to are the UN SDGs. 17 sustainable development goals to align with - typically institutions will have 4-5 that are relevant.
#BLA24 sustainability reporting has been developed but much much more recent - about 15 years max for sustainability frameworks. Still various ways to do it. Lots of factors coming in - carbon, water, social impact, level of detail and accuracy.
#BLA24 why do we screw sustainability reporting and frameworks - dates back to Black Tuesday, free great crash - regulated accounting and created a safer economic world. Refined and developed financial accounting.
#BLA24 none of those companies had any sustainability cred at all but he was able to create a series of firsts in the industries - green mortgages, green buildings schemes, carbon and social impact software, McLaren's first circular F1 car.
#BLA24 Colin! Colin Brown. 30 years in sustainability. Focused on working for companies with really poor sustainabilty due to what they make. He feels there is the greatest opportunity to make a difference cf to already sustainable companies.
#BLA24 didn't catch the speaker's name but from Cura Terre Group Ecus. Specialise in sustainability consultancy.
Can you name me a company that you think of as sustainable? #bla24
Sustainability reporting by Ecus as the final keynote of the day #bla24
#bla24 great to see actual students engaging with the reps at the exhibition stands and not just for the freebies (possibly)
#bla24 perhaps we need a best supplier’s presentation competition. Encourage making presentations interesting and engaging
#BLA24 challenges - no line management over assistant lecturers, admin is huge, poor attendence.
#BLA24 Insight into academic year really valuable eg when they have marking crunches and such. Cos delivery with academics gives huge authority to what the library is saying. Immediate response to problems in programmes. Gives the small library team great reach and capacity.
#BLA24 traditional library support but also have English language specialists and learning skills support. Wide range run from library. Assistant support lecturers brought huge knowledge and contacts for each programme.
