Sustainability is a slippery word. It’s most often heard in the context of the environment: we talk of “sustainable agriculture” or “sustainable development.” But in a more general sense, it suggests support or persistence of any kind. As we planned this issue, there was some concern among the editorial committee members that the ambiguity of the term could make it a difficult theme for an issue of Alki. However, the articles and essays herein prove otherwise: they indicate that, in libraries, ecological, financial, and political sustainability might not be all that disparate. And sustainability, in all its manifestations, is of great importance for the health of our profession and our communities.
Alki Editor: Bo Kinney
Alki Editorial Committee: Sue Anderson, committee chair; Samantha Becker; Diane Cowles; Theresa Kappus; Tami Robinson; Kate Skinner; Tony Wilson
Alki was designed by Tammy Reniche, Director of Publications for Melby Cameron & Anderson.
Front cover: The green roof of the Ballard branch of The Seattle Public Library. Photo © The Seattle Public Library.
Download the full-color PDF issue below.
by Tim Mallory
by Bo Kinney
by Jonathan Betz-Zall
by Tami Echavarria Robinson
by Jill Merritt
Project description by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
by Diane Cowles
by Carolyn Petersen
by Tony Wilson
by Josh Westbrook
by Tracy Guza
by Rand Simmons, Julie Miller, and Kristie Kirkpatrick
by Jennifer Wiseman
by Kirsten Edwards
by Janet Blumberg, Kristy L. Coomes, and Shirley C. Tucker
by Kate Laughlin
by David Wright