Examining the Readiness to Realize Green Libraries in Iranian Universities in line with Sustainable Management

The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of readiness of Iranian academic libraries for sustainable management to realize green libraries.

In terms of the type of objective, the present research is applied research, and it was carried out by a descriptive survey method. The statistical population of this research includes different departments of university libraries under the supervision of the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. In this research, a researcher-made checklist was used to collect the data, which was prepared based on the components of the ISO 14000, and a Delphi panel was used to determine its validity, and SPSS 22 software was applied to analyze the research data.

According to the obtained results, it can be concluded that the libraries of Iranian universities are far from the indicators of readiness to become green libraries, and in order to reach the desired level, it seems necessary to review the design of their infrastructure. The results also showed compliance with rules such as waste management, optimal energy consumption and use of renewable energies, attention to the optimal consumption of natural resources such as paper, the use of environmentally friendly raw materials and equipment in the library, and so forth. There are those who help the libraries in obtaining the necessary standards to become a green library.

Considering the importance of paying attention to environmental issues, this research is the first work done in this direction in this society and its scope.