Sustainable Libraries Initiative Awarded $175,000 for Operationalizing Community Resilience: Creating a Training and Partnership Model for Libraries

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI) has been awarded a $175,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation’s Public Knowledge program to lead a 15-month project titled Operationalizing Community Resilience: Creating a Training and Partnership Model for Libraries. The grant will be administered by Educopia, SLI’s fiscal sponsor.

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative (founded in 2015 and now housed within the Suffolk Cooperative Library System) supports library leaders in co-creating libraries and communities that can thrive in the face of climate change. Through its online community of practice, professional development programs, and award-winning Sustainable Library Certification Program, SLI empowers those working in public, academic, and school libraries to advance environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic feasibility. 

Operationalizing Community Resilience will pilot a training program designed to support public library staff in smaller and rural communities as they plan and implement locally relevant resilience activities in partnership with community-based organizations. The training will help participating libraries integrate the National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries (NCASL) into their daily operations, bridging national climate frameworks with the realities of local library work.

The pilot will train a total of 40 staff members drawn from 40 public libraries serving populations of 25,000 or fewer. Project outcomes will include:

• Up to 40 library-led initiatives addressing climate mitigation or adaptation
• Stronger partnerships between libraries and local organizations focused on climate preparedness
• A scalable, field-tested training model and curriculum, and stories from the field,  to help inspire more libraries to engage in similar work nationwide 

Together, these outcomes position libraries as trusted, place-based knowledge institutions capable of anchoring climate adaptation efforts and supporting equitable access to public knowledge infrastructure.

“The goal of Operationalizing Community Resilience is to equip small and rural public libraries with the tools, partnerships, and confidence to turn climate strategy into action,” said SLI Co-Founder and President, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich. “With Mellon’s support, we’re building a practical and replicable model that recognizes libraries as essential civic infrastructure in times of climate disruption.”

By grounding the NCASL in locally driven, partnership-based initiatives, the project contributes a field-building approach to community-based climate action.

The project team will be led by SLI treasurer Roger Reyes and SLI coordinator Rebecca T. Miller, with key contributions from SLI co-founders Rebekkah Smith Aldrich and Matthew Bollerman, and WebJunction’s Andrew Harbison. WebJunction, which brings deep expertise in designing and delivering national-scale training, will play a central role in delivering a high-quality program.

The project’s advisory group will include AnnaLee Dragon (New York Library Association), Julianna Robbins (California State Library), and Michelle Eberle (Massachusetts Library System), and a representative from a Midwest library association, as well as Kate Laughlin (Association for Rural & Small Libraries).

Educopia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting diverse knowledge communities with resources, power, and each other, serves as fiscal sponsor for the project. “The Sustainable Libraries Initiative’s work exemplifies the kind of cross-sector collaboration Educopia exists to support,” said Jessica Meyerson, Co-Director - Fiscal Sponsorship, Educopia. “This Mellon Foundation grant represents a critical investment in translating a national climate framework into on-the-ground action for smaller and rural libraries."

Through Operationalizing Community Resilience, the Sustainable Libraries Initiative and its partners are creating durable pathways for climate action within the library ecosystem, ensuring that supporting community resilience becomes an integral, sustained priority of these essential public institutions.