Toolkit for Strategic Library Collaboration

The March-April, 2009, issue of ICOSA: Connection & Collaboration addresses the important questions of environmental preservation, energy production and sustainability.1 While daunting challenges mount for reversing the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, reducing pollution and reclaiming the earth’s endangered spaces, solutions to these problems are found, not surprisingly, in collaboration. Article after article drives home this point. Neal Lurie, in describing the efforts of the American Solar Energy Society to promote greater use of solar energy and other sustainable technologies, emphasizes the importance of understanding the common thread that binds together the individuals and organizations wanting to make a positive difference in energy production and use. He remarks, “Without that common thread it’s easy to lose perspective and slip into tunnel-vision thinking. People often view other organizations exclusively through a competitive lens. This narrow approach can put otherwise good organizations at a competitive disadvantage, precluding the possibility of working with partners. In today’s economy, strategic collaboration is critically important and needs to be a part of the organizational toolkit.”2