Ae mag draft 1

M A G A Z I N E AE musikcafé af teR eight ok tober 2013

EN DAG I KINA | CYCLING FOR LIBRARIES | RURAL OFFICE AT T BLI VÄN MED SPRÅKET | HENRY OJAL A | WHAT IS GREEN? 5€

AE CREW 2013

A E M AGA ZIN E OKTOBER 2013 12 EN DAG I KINA 24 CYCLING FOR LIBRARIES 32 RURAL OFFICE 34 ATT BLI VÄN MED SPRÅKET 40 HENRY OJALA 45 WHAT IS GREEN?

“You don’t have to be a resident to be able to visit this green oases, neither are you required to buy anything, you’re welcome to browse. I am, of course, talking tabout the public library.”

By Päivi H. Jokitalo

What is green and can be found in every Finnish town? It recycles materials, be it in printed or electronic form. It is a community hub which provides each and every town dweller with access to computers, newspapers, books and periodicals - and a nice and clean toilet, often named as their most sought-after service. You don’t have to be a resident to be able to visit this green oases, neither are you required to buy anything, you’re welcome to browse. I am, of course, talking about the public library.

The rationale behind public libraries is very much in line with the ideals and aims of the green movement, ecological issues and sustainability. You don’t need to own everything you use and consume. Libraries loan materials, they retrieve information for users, they offer an open, free-of-charge space for all. Books, films and musical recordings - or rather their contents - can be used by several people without the text, visual expression or music itself becoming exhausted. Even if they are environmentally friendly by nature, libraries, as many other public services, are obviously trying to do more than this: switching off or setting computers into sleeping mode when not in use, taking double-sided print-outs, choosing e-mail over snail mail. Even if a lot more should and could be done, libraries don’t have to start by installing solar panels to improve their ecological sustainability.

One of the first public institutions to be granted the Helsinki City EcoCompass label was Vallila Public Library. Helsinki City Library has outlined it environmental policy broadly, as is fit for public libraries. The libraries in the capitol aim at "efficient circulation of collections, preserving the cultural heritage, preventing alienation, increasing consciousness concerning environmental issues and decreasing environmental strain". Amongst others, the library co-operates with a small business called Kuinoma (“As your own”) who act as an intermediary when members of the service wish to lend out their skis, cameras, tools or tents to others. The parties agree on the details over the internet and the owner brings the item to the library where the borrower can pick it up and return it after use. The library loans out the item with a code number. At the moment, three of the four Kuinoma pick-up places are public libraries. It makes sense: libraries have relatively long opening-hours and they are easily accessible.

More than just recycling books and other materials, libraries recycle ideas. And that is what makes development possible (and it is all legal, as well - no copyright infringment here!). If libraries - alongside other memory organisations such as museums and archives - were not functioning as storage houses of human memory, we would have wasted copious amounts of time and energy in rediscovering the same things over and over again and I’m not only talking about the proverbial wheel. It is, of course, not always a bad thing to make your own mistakes and learn from them, but even then it might be nice to read about how others have picked up the pieces and set on new adventures. And talking about recycling ideas, in the words of the staff of Vallila Public Library: when the lights are on at the library, they can be switched off elsewhere.