While Kermit the Frog once said "it ain't easy being green," the cost savings and benefits to the environment from "going green" make the efforts worthwhile.
Leigh Ann Porsch, communications development coordinator at the Huntley Area Public Library, said that the library continues to find ways of running its facility and programs that are both cost effective and less harmful to the environment.
"There are paper recycle bins in front of the library that came from the Huntley Area Public Library District Friends Foundation," Porsch said. "Instead of offering plastic bags for carrying home books and materials, we now rent canvas bags for the same purpose that can be checked out for three weeks."
Porsch said that the library now uses more energy efficient light bulbs and has replaced the air filters in the heating/HVAC units to achieve better efficiency.
Motion detectors in the washrooms and program room will turn lights on and off when people enter and leave the rooms so that lights are not kept on when these areas are not being occupied.
"Almost all of our cleaning products are 'green' cleaning products," Porsch said. "The copy paper, toilet paper, and paper towel rolls we use are recycled paper products."
In addition to "going green," the library has made improvements to its facility due to a Illinois state grant that was awarded to the library in May.
"We were awarded $10,000 through the Live and Learn Construction Grant Program," Porsch said. "The Huntley Area Public Library District Friends Foundation was able to match the grant and gave us another $10,000. With that money, we were able to install power-assist doors at the entrance to the library. In our public restrooms, we were also able to replace the sinks and faucets with automatic faucets. The restroom countertops were replaced with ones that are less porous and more anti-bacterial."
