No More Paper Receipts for Checked-out Books

MELBOURNE, FLA. — As it prepares to host several Earth Day events, Florida Institute of Technology’s Evans Library has announced its own eco-friendly innovations that will allow the institution to eliminate 10,000 sheets and dozens of rolls of paper used annually for checkout receipts, reports and more.

The library’s recent adoption of an open-source integrated library system called Koha allowed for changes in how patrons’ checkout, hold, renewal and overdue notifications are processed. They will now receive emails with due dates and other essential information, all of which had been printed on paper.

“Streamlining these processes by supplanting receipts with emails allows Evans Library to model sustainability to Florida Tech staff and students and help initiate new ways to think and work smarter,” said Nancy Garmer, the library’s head of public services.

In celebration of this achievement, the library is challenging students to take the Paperless Pledge and refrain from printing anything on Earth Day, April 22. The library will set up a Selfie Station where students can take a photo of themselves with a sign that reads, “I took the Paperless Pledge,” and then post their photos to the library’s Facebook page.

In addition, Evans Library and the Sea Turtle Preservation Society will host an Earth Day-themed presentation on sea turtles and sea turtle conservation. The hour-long talk will begin at 4 p.m. on April 22 in the library lobby and be given by Preservation Society volunteer and Florida Tech graduate student Nikia Rice. The event is free and open to the public.

Also that day, the Florida Tech Student Organization for Sustainability Action (SOSA) will have a table from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the library lobby with displays and educational materials about recycling for the campus community.

Other Earth Day events are planned this week, including “An Evening of Sustainability” from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at the Evans Library teaching auditorium.

At that event, Lawrence Maxwell, president of Space Coast Architects, will present, “Sustainable Buildings in the 21 Century,” and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Landscape Conservation Manager Steve Traxler will present “Sustainable Species and Ecosystem Management.”

The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion from 7:15-7:45 p.m. Pizza and drinks are provided.

Information on this event is available by contacting SOSA President Daniel Oliva at doliva2013@my.fit.edu.

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