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Donated books lead to story and sustainable success

Image shows a woman standing in a library

Swansea Bay’s staff library service has significantly reduced its environmental impact by writing new chapters for its unwanted books.

The health board’s four libraries in Morriston, Singleton, Neath Port Talbot and Cefn Coed hospitals have been donating books that are either out of date or in a sorry state so that they can be redistributed or recycled.

Image shows a woman holding books in front of a cardboard box The libraries have medical books for staff and other non-clinical interests, which are also taken to the wards for patients to read.

The staff library service has donated over 2,500 to online book seller Better World Books in the last financial year, meaning it has made significant environmental savings.

PICTURED: Kristen Clunis, Library Assistant, Neath Port Talbot Hospital, with some of the books being donated to Better World Books.

The figures equate to:

  • 38 trees saved and conserved 21,140 gallons of water. By recycling books, the staff library services’ efforts have meant less trees have been cut down, while it takes 70 per cent less energy and water to recycle paper than to create new paper from trees.
  • Three cubic yards have been saved at landfill sites
  • 8,413 Kilowatt Hours have been saved, which is enough to supply two semi-detached homes with electricity in the UK for a year.
  • 5,445lbs reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The efforts of the staff library service comes during Great Big Green Week (June 7-15), which is the UK’s biggest celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature.

Betsy Morgan, Trainee Clinical Librarian, said: “It's really important to us in the library service that the books that we cannot use, either because they are out of date medical books or are maybe just a little too battered, are not sent to land fill.

“Sending the books to Better World Books ensures that they are either sold on with annual literacy grants awarded to fund literacy and educational nonprofits and libraries for specific projects throughout the world or books they cannot sell are recycled.

“Better World Books are committed to their pledge to environmental sustainability, and they ‘never ever throw away a book’.

“When we looked at our figures for the year as a health board library service, we were amazed at how many books we had sent off and the impact this had."

Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth a galwadau ffôn yn y Gymraeg neu'r Saesneg. Atebir gohebiaeth Gymraeg yn y Gymraeg, ac ni fydd hyn yn arwain at oedi. Mae’r dudalen hon ar gael yn Gymraeg drwy bwyso’r botwm ar y dde ar frig y dudalen.

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