For Immediate Release

January 9, 2026

Alice L. Pendleton Library is Certified Sustainable
The Sustainable Libraries Initiative recognizes Alice L. Pendleton Library
as a leader in sustainability.

Pictured: a pair of chairs in the Library’s Remembrance Garden, the only public garden on the island of Islesboro.

Suffolk County, NY – January 9, 2026 –Alice L. Pendleton Library located in Islesboro, Maine has been designated as a Certified Sustainable Library through the Sustainable Library Certification Program (SLCP). 

Sustainability touches every corner of the Alice L. Pendleton Library, inside and out. 

"It has been my absolute pleasure to be part of this incredibly important program,” said the library’s director Melissa Olson. “Libraries as leaders of change? Of course! Librarians around the country (and world) continue to make a difference and have a positive impact on people's lives. When libraries are role models for their communities, great things happen." 

Adapting to the safety requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic, the library created a children’s garden to maintain program offerings and give the community an outdoor space to responsibly gather. The library also started a geocache program in partnership with a local conservation organization, the Islesboro Islands Trust (IIT), to connect literacy with the outdoors. 

A waste audit revealed that the library is able to divert 77% of its waste from landfill through initiatives such as proper recycling and donating or selling weeded materials. During the program, the library staff weeded materials so efficiently that two new community spaces were created: a young adult room and a large meeting room for gatherings. 

The library excels at bringing people together. A pen-pal program bridges the gap between a grade school class and a sewing circle comprised of older women. The library hosts monthly community leaders’ meetings to help local organizations coordinate events and activities rather than compete with one another. Olson adds, “Libraries are no longer about being filled with books - libraries are about being filled with people.”

“The Alice Pendleton Library is a perfect example of how any library, anywhere, can make a powerful sustainable difference to their community. This is a small library with a huge impact - I am so proud of their team!” said Hazel Onsrud, the library’s SLI mentor and Adult Services Librarian at the certified Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine. 

With this achievement, Alice L. Pendleton Library becomes the thirty-second public library to earn Sustainable Library Certification through the SLCP: an award-winning benchmarking system and community of practice designed to provide public libraries, academic libraries, library systems, and school librarians with exclusive resources and guidelines to shift towards a cleaner, greener, and more equitable future. 

Carrying the energy forward, the library aspires reach an emissions goal of net-zero by 2027; design the children’s garden space to include vegetables, fruit bushes, and seating; and to increase visitation from underrepresented populations in Islesboro through inclusive programming and board representation. 

For more information, view Alice L. Pendleton Library’s final presentation or reach out to SLI Staff at sliadmin@suffolknet.org.

About the Sustainable Libraries Initiative

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative is a member-driven organization that empowers library professionals to be leaders in triple-bottom-line sustainability (environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic feasibility) both within their organizations and in their communities. The Sustainable Library Certification Program is now enrolling public and academic libraries, library systems, and school librarians.