Library

Library and society

Bibliographic and documentary heritage

On the one hand, the Library has among its collections two funds that are the result of the historical evolution of the University: the Local or Canary Islands Fund and the Old Background. Both constitute a fundamental part of the Canary Islands' bibliographic heritage, and therefore their importance extends beyond the purely academic sphere to encompass the entire society of the archipelago. The Library has not only assumed the custody and maintenance of these collections, but has also made a concerted effort to disseminate them through exhibitions, both within and outside the University, taking its holdings to various locations throughout the Canary Islands.

This heritage has also been disseminated in various publications, a list of which can be consulted. in this link.

Guided tours

The Library organizes guided tours, specially designed for the university community. In exceptional circumstances, and depending on staff availability, requests for visits from groups of high school students, students in advanced vocational training programs, and other interested groups or organizations may be accommodated.

The format and content of the visit will be adapted, as far as possible, to the needs of the visiting group.

To request a visit, it is necessary complete this form.

More information in this video.

Social responsibility

Although the Library's activities are primarily aimed at members of the University of La Laguna, it has always had an outreach to the wider community. This is evident in various aspects.

1. SOLIDARITY

Furthermore, the Library has long recognized the need to collaborate with charitable initiatives aimed at the most disadvantaged sectors of society. Thus, in 2012, it participated in the creation of ULL Solidaria, a project whose objective is to promote and disseminate the social commitment of our institution and to organize specific actions in collaboration with other organizations. The Library actively participates in the activities carried out, which include campaigns to collect food, materials, and other items, as well as activities to promote and raise awareness of social activism (exhibitions, conferences, workshops, and roundtables).

2. TRAINING

The Library has sought to extend its information literacy training experience to groups outside the University of La Laguna (ULL). To this end, it has developed courses for staff of public libraries in the Canary Islands, as well as for students and teachers from non-university institutions. It has also conducted training activities at universities in Ecuador, with the aim of contributing to their educational development.

3. ACCESSIBILITY

Another example of the Library's commitment to disadvantaged groups is the initiatives undertaken to improve the accessibility of its facilities (for example, the renovation of restrooms in the General and Humanities Libraries) and its collections (digitizing works for use by people with visual or motor disabilities). The Library also collaborates on activities with people at risk of social exclusion.

4. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

The Library of the University of La Laguna, in accordance with the University's strategic vision and the values it has adopted, and aware of the need to incorporate environmental ethics into all its activities, assumes this important responsibility and wants to contribute to environmental sustainability through the efficient management of material resources, their proper use, the recycling of waste and the saving of energy.

Therefore, a guide has been provided that establishes commitments, a series of actions to be developed by the Library Management and a series of good practices that are proposed to the Library staff to apply in their daily work. The guide can be found here.

5. SPACES OF EQUALITY

The Library is creating a space with panels or roll-up banners at all service points, showcasing women who have had little visibility until now but who have contributed to the development of different disciplines.

The Education Library and the General and Humanities Library also have general and specialized collections on feminism and gender studies. Furthermore, they serve as spaces for debate, exhibitions, book presentations, and workshops.

More information.

6. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

See here the activities carried out by the University Library in relation to the SDGs.

7. DOCUMENTS ON THE LIBRARY'S SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Some documents that describe the experience of the ULL Library in the area of social responsibility.

University Library Social Responsibility Policy.

Corporate social responsibility reports

ERBEZ RODRÍGUEZ, JM. The library opens up to society: ULL Library services for the Canary Islands community. III Seminar on Challenges for Libraries. La Laguna, May 23, 2015

HERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ, CJ. The ULL Library: services and resources for entrepreneurs. CULLTURA'15: Cultural-Tourist Intersection through Knowledge. La Laguna, March 26, 2015

RODRÍGUEZ JUNCO, F. Social commitment. The experience of the Library of the University of La Laguna. RUIDERAe: Journal of Information Units, 2014, no. 5

HERNÁNDEZ, CJ, RIVERO, FR, SAINZ, F. Skills training: a form of social responsibility at the ULL Library (paper presented at the conference “Sharing experiences: cultural revitalization and library outreach”, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 11/02/2014)

Donations

WHAT IS IT?

Donation is a way of acquiring a document or set of documents free of charge. The ULL Library is keen to enrich its collections through donations from the university community or from individuals and institutions outside the university. Donated documents can be of any type and format: books, journals, audiovisual materials, manuscripts, drawings, maps, etc.

Because the technical process of donation involves a series of costs in human resources, storage problems, etc., the Library reserves the right to accept or reject a donation, in accordance with the criteria established in the Regulations for Donations of the Library of the University of La Laguna.

The Library does not accept any donation of bibliographic and documentary material that requires conditions or considerations that contravene the provisions established in its current regulations or in the procedures established for the organization, management, conservation and dissemination of its collection.

The University is grateful for donations that help improve and enrich its collection.

WHO CAN DONATE?

  • Members of the university community: teaching and research staff, students and administrative and service staff.
  • Public and private entities.
  • Individuals.

WHAT INTERESTS THE LIBRARY?

The main objective of the University of La Laguna Library, in accepting a donation, is the improvement and enrichment of its collection and therefore it has a special interest in:

  • Bibliographic and documentary material that you do not own and that is of interest for learning, teaching and research.
  • Bibliographic and documentary material from Canarian authors and topics related to the Islands, or published in them.
  • Ancient and modern manuscripts.
  • Printed materials up to 1830. From this date until 1901, those not owned by the Library.
  • Copies that have unique characteristics: autographs, annotations by a relevant author or special bindings.
  • Drawings, engravings, maps and pieces of music.
  • Personal collections made up of personal, professional, departmental or entity libraries and/or archives that are relevant due to the bibliographic or scientific quality of the works they contain.

WHAT IS NOT OF INTEREST TO THE LIBRARY?

In general, unless they have special value due to their age, dedications, marginal notes, etc., or are of interest to the Canary Islands Fund, they are not of interest:

  • Damaged or poorly preserved material
  • Photocopied copies or reproductions, except for lost or handwritten works.
  • Duplicate bibliographic material.
  • Individual issues of periodicals that do not complete a collection.
  • In the areas of science, technology and law, in general, works older than ten years are not accepted, although exceptions may be made if the case requires it.

HOW TO MAKE A DONATION

If, taking into account the conditions indicated above, you wish to propose a donation, Please fill out this form as completely as possible..

Once the proposal has been reviewed, the Library will contact the interested party as soon as possible.

In any case, the Library reserves the right to accept or reject the donation.

The Library does not return donations that have not been previously accepted. Donors have 30 days to collect their donations. After this period, any unclaimed items are donated or recycled.

Environmental management guide

The Library of the University of La Laguna, in accordance with the University's strategic vision and the values it has adopted, and aware of the need to incorporate environmental ethics into all its activities, assumes this important responsibility and wants to contribute to environmental sustainability through the efficient management of material resources, their proper use, the recycling of waste and the saving of energy.

With the aim of unifying the actions taken so far into a single policy, and to standardize and project into the future those that are to be undertaken, this guide is presented, which consists of the following elements:

  • A statement of commitments
  • A series of actions to be developed by the Library Management
  • A series of good practices proposed to Library staff for application in their daily work

Both actions and good practices are grouped into lines of action corresponding to different aspects of environmental management.

Finally, some general actions not linked to any specific line of action are included.

COMMITMENTS

The Library of the University of La Laguna undertakes the following commitments:

  • Establish a system of continuous improvement of environmental quality in our facilities, processes and services.
  • To prevent, reduce and eliminate environmental pollution as much as possible and to rationalize the consumption of material, natural and energy resources.
  • Promote the recycling, recovery and reuse of materials.
  • Comply with applicable environmental regulations and other environmental requirements subscribed to by the institution, in all the tasks we carry out.
  • Implement, maintain and document an Environmental Management Process.
  • To contribute to the education and awareness of Library staff, users and society in general regarding the care of the environment.
  • To disseminate, communicate and make available to everyone this policy for improving our environmental practices

LINE OF ACTION 1

Reduce consumption of paper, ink and toner.

ACTIONS

  1. Promote good practices aimed at reducing the consumption of paper, ink and toner.
  2. Include a reminder notice about responsible paper consumption on the e-resources page(s).
  3. Request and ensure that all purchases of paper, ink, and toner are invoiced separately from the rest of the consumable material.
  4. Send any communication to users electronically.
  5. Replace photocopiers with scanners whenever possible.

GOOD PRACTICES

  • Whenever possible, use the Electronic Office to carry out the procedures.
  • Before printing, consider whether it is absolutely necessary to do so, and if so, print on both sides whenever possible.
  • Use both sides of the paper, reusing the unprinted side for taking notes, for drafts, etc.
  • Read on screen (email, short texts…) avoiding printing.
  • Use the "Print Preview" option before giving the print command to review and correct the text.
  • Configure printers in ink-saving mode when documents do not require high quality.
  • Add the font type “ecofont“", which saves up to 20% of ink or toner on printing, and use it as the default.
  • Some printing techniques to save paper:
    • Before printing a text in its entirety, you can select only the part(s) you need to print and copy them into Word or any other word processor; you can also use the "Print Selection" option offered by the printer.
    • Use free programs that select the parts and format for printing web pages (Example in this link) and that allow you to save paper and ink/toner

LINE OF ACTION 2

Reduce electricity consumption

ACTIONS

  1. Disseminate good practices aimed at reducing electricity consumption.
  2. Include in infrastructure improvement plans the replacement of lighting systems, substituting lamps with low-energy devices, dividing lighting zones with separate switches, etc.
  3. Include energy efficiency as an additional evaluation criterion when purchasing computer equipment.

GOOD PRACTICES

  • Do not turn on artificial light unless necessary, making the most of the natural light that comes in through windows and glazing.
  • Turn off lights, photocopiers and electronic equipment at the end of the workday.
  • Turn off the air conditioning one hour before the Library closes.
  • Keep doors and windows closed when the air conditioning or heaters are on.
  • Activate the energy saving functions provided by PC operating systems.

LINE OF ACTION 3

Reduce water consumption

ACTIONS

  1. Promote good practices aimed at saving water.
  2. Include in infrastructure improvement plans the change of water management systems, introducing water-saving mechanisms and devices.

GOOD PRACTICES

  • Notify maintenance services promptly to fix any water leaks or malfunctions we detect.

LINE OF ACTION 4

Promote the recycling of paper and plastic

ACTIONS

  1. Promote good practices aimed at recycling paper and plastic.
  2. Verify that all libraries have paper and plastic recycling containers in public spaces and staff work areas.

GOOD PRACTICES

  • Place all discarded material that can be recycled in the containers.
  • Reduce the use of plastic bags and promote their reuse.

LINE OF ACTION 5

Promote the recycling of toner and ink

ACTIONS

  1. Promote good practices aimed at toner recycling.
  2. Verify that all libraries recycle toner and ink cartridges.

GOOD PRACTICES

  • Recycle the ink and toner cartridges, notifying the company designated by the ULL for their collection.

LINES OF ACTION 6

Promote the recycling of radioelectric elements

ACTIONS

  1. Disseminate good practices aimed at recycling radioelectric elements.
  2. Verify that all libraries recycle radioelectric items.

GOOD PRACTICES

  • Follow the Procedure for the Management of waste electrical and electronic equipment, as well as batteries and accumulators of the Occupational Risk Prevention Service of the ULL.
  • Deposit in the containers provided for this purpose the radioelectric elements that can be recycled and that are not included in the aforementioned procedure.

GENERAL ACTIONS THAT AFFECT ALL THE ABOVE LINES

  1. Disseminate good practices to promote staff awareness of environmental issues.
  2. Use environmentally friendly materials in the production of products for the dissemination of the Service.
  3. To disseminate news and historical events related to the Environment through the web and social networks.
  4. Incorporate environmental clauses into tender documents.
  5. Where possible and taking into account budget optimization, purchase products with eco-labels.
  6. Include brief environmental content recommendations in the electronic and printed brochures produced by the Library.
  7. We recommend using public transport and bicycles, and for short journeys, walking.
  8. Join the initiatives undertaken by the ULL in relation to the environment.

Based on:

University of Seville
Link to website
(accessed on 20160303)

University of Burgos
Link to website (accessed on 20160303)

Autonomous University of Barcelona
Link to website (accessed on 20160303)

Code of Ethics