Exploring the various dimensions of climate change, environmental justice, and ecospirituality can load up your bedside table with worthwhile reads. Under its “Best Environmental Books” category, Goodreads lists almost 1000 titles. Literary Hub selected 365 books for its “Climate Change Library.”
Members of the Climate Action Team have their favorites, and between all of us, we have collected a solid assortment of powerful classics as well as eye-opening recent releases. We’re ready to pull some of our books off the shelf, dust them off, and put them in your book-loving hands. Introducing our just-launched lending library!
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring? Got it! Paul Hawken’s newest Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation is available, too. Feeling philosophical? Consider Climate: A New Story or The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible, both by Charles Eisenstein. Prefer something practical? Try Building a Better World in Your Backyard – Instead of Being Angry at Bad Guys by Paul Wheaton and Shawn Klassen-Koop. Our lending library includes over 50 titles that will educate, inspire, and nourish you – and our list is still growing!
Here’s how it works. Peruse this online list and learn more about each book by clicking on the link to the book summary and reviews on the Goodreads website. Find out which of our Climate Action Team members is offering the loan, and then use Realm to make contact with her/him/them. The two of you will arrange the exchange, possibly after worship in our soon-to-open new church space!
Keep the book as long as it takes for you to read it, but keep in mind that it’s a loan and that others may also be interested in borrowing it before too long. If you end up needing it for more than a month, contact the book’s owner to see if that’s OK. Once you’re done, find a good time to return the book to its owner. It would be awesome if the two of you chose to meet and talk about your experience with the book.
“By talking about books, we become more aware of our own biases and beliefs. We are aware of WHY we feel the way we do about the book. We remember experiences and turning points that influenced our opinions. Talking about books and our response to them prompts a new level of self-awareness,” Melissa Gouty writes in “How Book Talk Makes the World A Better Place.”
Here are a few more guidelines:
• Each book belongs to a book lover. Please treat each book with care and return it to its owner in the same condition that you received it.
• The books we loan may include our personal highlights and notes. Borrowers should not add notes and highlights or dogear pages.
• If a borrower damages or loses a book, they are to communicate with the lender to arrange a replacement.
• Borrowers are encouraged to savor the books they borrow. A loan of one month is the norm, so if a borrower needs more time, they should contact the book’s owner.
We’re excited to engage with you in the important work of addressing climate change, learning about impacts and solutions, and supporting each other in this transitional time. Please plan to make use of our lending library and join us in keeping a “green read” at the ready on your nightstand.
Do you have books to add to our list? Please email the titles and authors to me at reeseindecatur@gmail.com.