An Interview with Kristīne Deksne, Library Development Expert, National Library of Latvia – Representative of the IFLA Environment, Sustainability and Libraries Section (ENSULIB).
The sustainability work is already there. The language isn’t.
When Kris
tīne Deksne talks about sustainability in libraries, she doesn’t start with ESG frameworks or European Green Deal targets. She starts with a question: “How do we, as GLAM professionals, perceive ourselves and our institutions? Not just in words, but in our internal beliefs and attitudes?”
It’s a disarming entry point — and a surprisingly radical one. Because for Deksne, the biggest obstacle to ESG in the cultural sector is not a lack of will or resources. It’s a lack of recognition.
Deksne works at the intersection of library practice and international policy. As a member of the IFLA Environment, Sustainability and Libraries (ENSULIB) Standing Committee and the NAPLE Forum, she has spent years helping Latvian librarians understand their role in the UN 2030 Agenda. She has co-authored national reports, built a dedicated SDG section on the Latvian Library Portal, and organised cross-Baltic seminars connecting museum and library professionals around sustainability.
The three-step problem
Her diagnosis of the sector’s ESG gap is precise. There are three levels where things break down: operational, governance, and the space between knowledge and action.
“At the operational level, staff often lack the practical tools to translate ESG principles into concrete actions,” she says. “They understand the concept, but they don’t know what exactly to change, how to prioritise, or how to measure what they’ve done.”
At the governance level, the problem is structural. ESG is rarely embedded into institutional strategy, evaluation systems, or budget cycles. It depends on the initiative of individual champions — which makes it fragile.
And underneath both of these, there’s a deeper issue: the concept itself can feel abstract, even threatening. “If it’s not clear how ESG principles apply to specific activities — creating exhibitions, organising events, delivering services — it’s hard for staff to see their practical relevance.”
What actually works
Deksne is clear about what changes this. Not theoretical training. Not top-down mandates. What works is learning by doing, in context.
“The most effective formats are practical workshops analysing real examples from institutional life. Short, structured online modules that staff can complete at their own pace. And mutual exchange between institutions — seminars, peer networks, conversations where people discover that others have already solved the problem they’re facing.”
She also advocates for a toolkit approach: checklists for sustainable event planning, self-assessment questionnaires, simple impact measurement indicators. “These are not glamorous,” she acknowledges. “But they’re the things that actually help a library director make a different decision next Monday morning.”
The funding paradox
One of the sharpest insights in Deksne’s analysis concerns the relationship between funding and ESG. When sustainability criteria are embedded in funding calls, institutions act. When they’re not, ESG remains optional — and optional means informal.
“Policies and funding mechanisms define whether ESG is necessary or merely desirable,” she says. “And in practice, many GLAM institutions have been getting along fine without it formally — which makes the urgency feel abstract.”
This is a system-level challenge. And it’s one reason she sees projects like ESG4GLAM as significant: not just for the tools they produce, but for the legitimacy they confer. “When a European-funded project says ESG matters for the GLAM sector, that changes the conversation inside institutions.”
A vision of success
Deksne’s definition of a successful outcome for ESG4GLAM is demanding — and worth taking seriously.
“Success is not producing training materials or running short-term activities,” she says. “Success is when practitioners have a clear and shared understanding of ESG principles and how they relate to their daily work. When the GLAM institutions involved in the project become role models — incubators — where ESG principles are fully implemented and from which others can learn.”
That’s a high bar. But it’s also, she suggests, the only bar worth setting.
“ESG integration should be practical, understandable, and adaptable to institutions of all sizes. And employees should perceive it as part of their daily work — not an additional administrative burden. That’s the shift we’re trying to make.”
This article was produced with the assistance of generative AI tools. The interview transcript was prepared by a third party and may itself have involved AI-assisted processing. All factual content has been verified against the original transcript.