Afton's Sustainability Center

Rochester Institute of Technology (this blogger's alma mater), long the poster-child for bastions of brick walls, has decided that to solve big problems, like climate change, they will now be in the business of removing walls between territorial disciplines on campus. According to a NY Times article, other major universities have seen the light also; establishing centers for "sustainability" where former departmental barriers are being bridged in an effort to bring the full intellectual power of the school to bear on this complex issue.

This provides a powerful model for us at ACS, too.

The complex business of cultivating motivated, respectful, accomplished students requires an interdisciplinary effort of broad reach and contribution. I'm thinking librarians are positioned to shape "sustainability" centers of our own; being a clearinghouse as well as a roundhouse for collecting, sharing and connecting what we do best.