Australian academic libraries and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have created an opportunity for the library sector to reconceptualise the services delivered to their communities. They provide the opportunity for libraries to be involved in national policy discussions and for their work to be translated into national programs for economic and social development. This article uses Australia as a case study of academic libraries in a broader policy context. The academic library community has built on many decades of work supporting social justice to set the scene to enable a significant contribution to be made to address the Sustainable Development Goals. The contribution that libraries have made has the potential to be reflected in university-wide reporting. The emergence of international university rankings on sustainability is assessed to review potential areas of impact. It is found that the most effective work to date has been collaborative. Further collaboration can contribute to strategic national planning and reporting.