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Numerous associations, organizations and individuals are waging an active world preservation campaign. The purpose of this pilot study is to examine an important aspect of library directors\u2019 attitudes towards environmental protection and the level of their concerns and green practices regarding sustainable development that has generally been overlooked in the literature. Multiple means of data collection (interviews, observation and document analysis) involving 14 libraries in China were conducted between March and May 2015; seven main thematic areas emerged from the data, such as: levels of awareness and commitment to sustainability issues in Chinese libraries are relatively low, and the current efficiency of facilities and operations have been seriously wasted. These findings indicate that the main priority of the library has been to attain economic and social development rather than environmental sustainability, while ignoring the energy costs and serious waste to some extent in the rapid development process of the Chinese library. The author notes just from observation of daily practices that there is definitely room for improvement to minimize the negative impact of their activities on the environment. This paper discusses for the first time the library directors\u2019 concerns and attitudes towards \u201cgoing green\u201d and sustainability. The ideas are expected to inform and improve library directors\u2019 environmental consciousness and sustainable practices, as well as open new vistas for research into the economic, social and environmental sustainability of library information services. How to achieve the social, economic and environmental requirements of present and future generations from libraries, especially library environmental sustainability is discussed intensively.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/0961000618818874","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,12,27]],"date-time":"2018-12-27T05:01:27Z","timestamp":1545886887000},"page":"382-398","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":26,"title":["Library directors\u2019 concerns and attitudes towards going green and sustainability in China: An unexplored area"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"52","author":[{"given":"Qi","family":"Kang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"History and Culture School of Baotou Normal College, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,12,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-0961000618818874","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.acalib.2017.07.002"},{"key":"bibr2-0961000618818874","unstructured":"AIA\/ALA (2018) Library Building Awards. 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