UCD Green Library: UCD Green Library

The Loop is UCD’s repair café. The inviting room will contain all the materials students and staff need for things like clothing repair, clothes upcycling, knitting, sewing, embroidery and lots of other crafts. including sewing machines. There will be workshops and chances to learn new skills. The official launch for both projects will take place in the James Joyce Library on Tuesday 4th March 2025.

The UCD Library of Things is the first of its kind in an Irish university. By borrowing items, students and staff are supporting a Community of Sharing, promoting sustainability, equity, and reduced waste. All items can be borrowed for free by students and staff of the university. Here you can find a full list of items. This project was launched at the end of February 2025 and students and staff can suggest items for purchase.

UCD Energy Institute, in partnership with UCD Library, has launched a pilot bike lending programme for members of the UCD community to demonstrate the potential for e-mobility to transform commuting patterns and reduce transport emissions. The UCD Bike Library pilot is the first of its kind in Ireland to offer bike lending through a traditional library service. The pilot scheme uses the Library’s role at the heart of campus to enable e-bikes or folding bikes to be lent to members of the UCD community for a six week period.  As this is a pilot scheme, expressions of interest have been sought and the bikes have already been allocated. More information: john.doody@ucd.ie

UCD Library has just won an IFLA Green Library Award!  UCD Library had been shortlisted under the "Green Library Project" category along with four international libraries, the project is titled "Beyond the Lifecycle: Libraries Supporting the Circular Economy"..  A total of 44 applications were received by IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations), the winning announcement took place in Barcelona on 8 October 2024.  Many Congratulations to our Green Team of librarians!

UCD Library contributes to the Circular Economy through our practice of upcycling, recycling and rehoming old furniture. 

In line with this focus on sustainability, UCD Library, as part of the Capital Development Project , sought to up-cycle as much of the old furniture as possible, offering it to local communities, helping to divert it from landfill, and reducing the overall carbon footprint of the project. This important UCD’s community engagement initiative, also helped to build and enhance UCD relationships with community-based organisations. The majority of the  upcycled study desks and chairs, were original to the Library when it was build in the 1970's.

The Library, working with UCD Warp It, a web based, furniture reuse platform (part of the a Green Campus initiative managed by UCD Estates) - and Facebook Marketplace,  recycled 100s of items, inc. study tables, chairs, and office equipment,  to: Primary and Secondary schools; Gaelscoils, Community Centres; After School Programmes, a Men’s Shed, John Of Gods, Dublin Civil Defense, A new autism centre, in a school in Graystones; individuals in the UCD community and a Romanian Orthodox Church, Cultural Missionary Centre.

The UCD Library Furniture Recycling Team were awarded a UCD Values in Action award