Request Solarpunk at the Library

gray t-shirt on Sue reads "Public Library Defender" — T-shirt says: Sue is a Big Fan of the Library (and other Third Spaces)

I’m a huge fan of distributed action: a lot of people doing a thing in a lot of places can have huge impact, even if each action seems small.

Almost everyone has access to a public library (at least in the US).

Most libraries will carry popular hopepunk/solarpunk books like the Monk and Robot series, Murderbot, or Ministry for the Future. But despite appearances, librarians do not actually have superpowers: they need their patrons to tell them what books they want to read.

A friend on Mastodon said it well:

Tim Chase @gumnos@bsd.cafe @susankayequinn As the husband of the material-services manager at our public library, they *really do* appreciate when library patrons make requests for specific titles. Otherwise, their collection-development is largely driven by • book-vendors with only average-citizen knowledge of interests (and likely profit- and inventory-driven biases) • popular-book lists (NYT best-sellers, etc) • local school-district input (when all ~50 elementary schools decide to concurrently do a unit on arctic-animals…), and • what's currently in the collection that circulates well I.e., just kinda guessing what the public wants based on statistics. So indeed, let your library know books you want in the collection! /cc @mwl Aug 06, 2025, 10:51 AM

REQUESTING SOLARPUNK BOOKS AT THE LIBRARY WILL:

get you free books you want to read
get the author paid
help librarians find books their patrons want
help more people discover solarpunk!

It’s that last one that nudged me to make this page—solarpunk is inherently communal and if we all go to our public libraries and ask them to carry solarpunk books, think of how widespread that impact could be!!

(also: library funding is often tied to circulation so if more people use the library, the library gets more funding, it really all works together, people)

HOW TO REQUEST BOOKS AT THE LIBRARY

Your library website will have a place where you can make requests online (you may have to log in with your library card. (More details here.) When I first started making requests at my local library, there was a limit of 3 per month. But once they started accepting my requests, they expanded me to 5 per month! Do not give me this power unless you want me to use it. So get on there and start requesting!

Read with Libby: info on the Libby app for borrowing books from the library

10 SOLARPUNK BOOKS EVERY LIBRARY SHOULD HAVE

This list makes it easy to get started! But don’t stop at ten! See links below where you can find more books to put on your own reading list and to request at the library!

(Note: I’ve intentionally restricted this list to solarpunk fiction (with an emphasis on novels) because there aren’t many and I want people to discover the power of hopeful climate fiction storytelling. This is the entire purpose of the podcast, after all. I will be refreshing the list over time, so check back!)

Find the list on Bookshop.org (which supports indie bookstores but also has ISBNs for reference).

Ten Solarpunk Books Every Library Should Have — See the list on Bookshop.org

For further solarpunk book-request ideas see: