Inspiring green values

We're committed to sustainability and protecting our environment

4 images showing learners, visitors and staff enjoying Inspire's green activities

Here's just some of the ways we work to reduce our, and your, environmental impact in our libraries and beyond:

As the original recycling service circulating endless books between readers, libraries are the perfect place to start reducing your impact on the environment. Purchasing shelves full of fiction or waiting for new releases in the post can be a thing of the past - pop in to your local library and choose from thousands of tried and tested reads!

A train showing seats and window, with hands in the foreground holding a smartphone with the BorrowBox app open

On the go? Download the BorrowBox or Libby apps and get browsing eBooks, eAudio, and even eMagazines! Find out more here.

Stay local and go far as you expand and learn new skills. Check out our new learning guide and explore crafts, wellbeing, maths skills and more!

There's no need to travel far to enjoy art exhibitions, family theatre and exciting workshops. Our libraries host tons of arts and culture events throughout the year. Search for your local library to check their listings.

Our Education Library Service is a great resource in providing curriculum support and title-by-title requests to schools in the county - and it saves money too! The estimated cost of 600 items, bought new, could have been as much as £8,000 while in 2021, Inspire’s ELS offered the same number of items for just £609 per year. Plus, schools can feel proud in the knowledge that they're instilling values of reducing waste in their students.

Find out more about our Services for Schools and search our ELS catalogue to see what delights await your students!

We have lots of fantastic family craft sessions in our libraries, therefore it's important to us that we reuse materials and reduce unnecessary waste wherever possible. When visiting one of our libraries' events, take notice of the natural and recycled materials being used; previous inspiring crafts include an antibacterial wipe container being used as an elf house, and plastic yoghurt lids being made into Anglo-Saxon brooches!

Image showing elf houses made from wipe containers, and yoghurt lids covered in foil to make Anglo-Saxon brooches

Looking for sustainable ways to support us? Enjoy digital content in our biweekly emails, reading newsletters and more! Sign up here.

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Check out our sustainability policy: