Sustainable Communities

While many community dynamics are at work, three are particularly important to building healthy and prosperous communities over the long term: economy, ecology, and equity—the three E’s.

Economy is the management and use of resources to meet household and community needs.

Ecology is the pattern of relationships between living things and their environment. We all know our shoe size. How many of us know the size of our “ ecological footprint,” the amount of air, land, and water it takes to support us?

Equity is fairness. Ideally everyone in a community shares in its well-being. Where there is equity, decisions are based on fairness and everyone (regardless of race, income, sex, age, language, sexual orientation, or disability) has opportunities and is treated with dignity.

The three E’s—economy, ecology, and equity—provide a framework for libraries and their communities to explore and anticipate how the choices they make today affect tomorrow.