Libraries were originally thought of as institutions that preserve the written documents. Technology has expanded the role to include preserving the spoken word, music and cultural life.

Today, libraries are helping protect our world through “green” technology.

One of the first library-sponsored events on this popular issue took place in 1999 when the New York Library Association held a special conference in Buffalo. The “How Green Is My Library?” forum addressed the role that libraries play in environmental issues and concerns.

Nine years later, many libraries in New York and throughout the country have changed their building designs and are now considered “green.”

The Ossining Public Library in Ossining, N.Y. recently adopted geothermal energy to heat and cool the building. Sunlight is used to provide 90 percent of the light needed. The project also used building materials that were obtained within a five hundred mile radius of the library. The Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library in Clifton Park, N.Y., one of the first “green” libraries in the state, went beyond the normal heating and cooling upgrades to include carpeting that was made from bio-based fibers using agricultural waste from corn, rice and beets. Its counter tops are made from recycled metal and plastic resins.

The Bronx Library Center was the first fully green public building in New York City, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.It is largely illuminated by natural light and equipped with passive solar energy devices. Also, as the library itself puts it: “Approximately 80 percent of the building's wood-based materials were grown in environmentally responsible forests; over 90 percent of demolition debris was recycled.”

In 2006, the Albany Library announced that new libraries built in the city of Albany would be designed using sustainable building practices. The article cites energy, environmental and human efficiency as three main reasons for going green.

Other examples of libraries using new technologies include the Eden Prairie Library in Minnesota where a natural gas fuel cell is used to create power on-site and the Mallets Creek Branch of the Ann Arbor Michigan Library where a vegetated green roof and convection cooling is used.

Students and researchers are studying how much energy is consumed when a patron buys a book from an on-line store such as Amazon.com vs. getting the book through inter-library loan or print-on- demand services. They are also discussing alternatives to reading program incentives (small toys given to children), the use of plastic bags, and other common practices.

Greenlibraries.org is a Web site dedicated to documenting the “greening” of libraries around the world.

Libraries are not only role models, they provide hundreds of books and audiovisual material for the average homeowner that show how to conserve energy. Books, such as “Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century,” “Your Green Home” by Alex Wilson, “Insulating, Sealing and Ventilating Your House” by William Spence and the DVD, “Design e-two: The Economics of Being Environmentally Conscious” are examples available at the Finger Lakes Library System. Titles not owned by members of the Finger Lakes Library System can easily be obtained by requesting that the item be inter-library loaned through the WorldCat catalog.

If you have not yet used this new service, be sure to ask your librarian to show you how it works.

My hope is that someday, the Lang Memorial Library will also be green and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.

Until then, we will continue to take little steps such as recycling, switching to biodegradable paper goods instead and using compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Libbie Messina is a librarian at Stewart Lang Memorial Library in Cato.