Season of Creation 2025 - Week One
Week One Spotlight - Public Library Resources for Creation Care
by Sarah Coles
One of the most often heard refrains in the conservation world is “reduce, reuse, recycle.” As Austinites many of us have a pretty good handle on the recycle part, we have our recycle bins that we dutifully collect our plastic, glass and metal in, and we with this part of the 3 Rs we are doing great. But, how much do we actually reduce our purchasing of new items? One great way to reduce is to use a FREE resource we have available to us - our city library system.
The Austin Public Library has some amazing resources available to anyone with a library card. For instance, do you need a specific tool for a job, but don’t have one? Instead of going off to the hardware store, check out the tool resource library, it may have what you are looking for. Monthly, the downtown library is a swap event, featuring everything from clothes, to movies and music, to seeds. Or, if you work from home and are looking for a change of scenery and need a place to work - skip the coffee shop, check out your local library. Oh - they also have books, both digital and paper :)
In addition to all of these great offerings, the Austin Library system also participates in an initiative called “Nature Smart Libraries.” This means they are placing a high importance of looking to engage community members in the outdoors. Some great programs the library offers as part of this initiative are: seed libraries at several branches, StoryWalks - where a children’s book is broken out along a path to tell a story and engage in the outdoors, and improving their outdoor spaces (check out the rooftop garden at the downtown library). Some great nature programing coming up at our local branch (the Menchaca Branch is closest to Rez) are:
Plant Swap on October 4th
Backyard Chickens on October 18th