Week 17 | The National Library Week for Sustainable Change and Development
Week 17 on the calendar year is International Library World Goals Week.
How often do you think about the world goals in your daily life? Could it be that you are working on them without knowing it?
When you go to the Reykjavík City library, you bring us all one step closer to the global goals - at least some of them, there are 17 of them in total.
The Global Goals are many and varied. They are integrated and inseparable and form a balance between the three pillars of sustainable development; the economic, social and environmental. The Reykjavík City Library, as well as the Akureyri Municipal Library and libraries in countries abroad, e.g. in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, have decided to use week 17, April 22 - 29, to draw attention to how libraries contribute to sustainable development.
As an example of projects at the library that work directly and indirectly towards the global goals, we can mention Spjöllum með hreim (Let's chat with an accent), Icelandic practice, which facilitates access to the language and a new linguistic community (goal 4 – quality education), regardless of class or status (goal 10 – reduced inequalities).
Opið samtal, where information and discussions about fundamental rights, regularly takes place and in the conversations, ground is created for peace and justice (goal 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions).
Don't forget the Green Library with e.g. all the exchange markets that provide an opportunity to change consumption patterns (goal 12 - responsible consumption and production) and the newly opened Seed Library - where everyone is welcome to take seeds and give seeds - a great way to protect the ecosystems on land and strengthen biodiversity (goal 15 – life on land).
Big dreams - small steps is an exhibition that will be staged at The City Library Grófin (down town) during the Children's Culture Festival, where the children will work under the guidance of Kristínar R. Vilhjálmsdóttir and receive inspiration from the United Nations' Global Goals and the Little People - Big Dreams series of books about outstanding individuals who have had a positive impact on the world.
It should also be mentioned that at the City Library you also has free access to clean water and sanitation (goal 6 – clean water and sanitation).
Could we possibly start your workday at the library rather than sitting in traffic across town? The library is at eight different locations throughout the city which all offer safe and diverse spaces for all city dwellers that protect the common cultural heritage (goal 11 - sustainable cities and communities).