Contact Us

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5441 SE Belmont St
Portland, OR, 97215
United States

(503)719-6779

Confluence Environmental Center

Library + Resources

Library + Resources

Cheap + Fun Ways to Live on Your Stipend

Arts for All - Discount tickets for dance, theater and music performances with Oregon Trail Card (SNAP)

Garden Curriculum Resources - Editable Google spreadsheet

COVID-19 Resources - Resources for living in an ongoing and post-pandemic world

FIELD GUIDES

  • Scats and Tracks of the Pacific Coast States - James C Halfpenny READ THE REVIEW

  • Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska - Pojar + Mackinnon

  • The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America - David Allen Sibley

  • All That the Rain Promises, and More...: A Hip Pocket Guide to Western Mushrooms - David Arora

  • Trees To Know in Oregon - Edward C Jensen

  • The Cloud Collector's Handbook- GAvin Pretor-Pinney

  • Endangered Trails of Mt Hood National Forest: a guide to trails threatened by forest management and how you can help

  • Field Guide for the Identification and Use of Common Riparian Woody Plants of the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest Regions

  • Lewis and Clark Meet Oregon's Forest: Lessons from Dynamic Nature - Gail Wells + Dawn Anzinger

  • Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West

  • First Ways - Urban Foraging

  • Wild in the City: Exploring the Intertwine - ed. Houck and Cody

  • 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington - Sullivan

CASE STUDIES

  • Our Stolen Future: How We Are Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival - Colborn, Dumanoski, Myers

  • Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things - William McDonough + Michael Braungart

  • The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America - Timothy Egan READ THE REVIEW

  • The Man Who Planted Trees: Lost Groves, Champion Trees, and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet - Jim Robbins

  • Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future - Jeff Goodell

  • Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream - Duany, Plater-Zyberk + Speck

  • Up Fanno Creek

  • Invasion Ecology

  • The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River - White

DIVERSITY/CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

DIVERSITY, EQUITY + INCLUSION IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT

 ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

ACTIVE CITIZEN

  • Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate (A Progressive Guide to Action) - George Lakoff

  • How to Save a River: A Handbook for Citizen Action - David M Bolling

  • How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas - David Bornstein

  • Green Social Work: From Environmental Crises to Environmental Justice - Lena Dominelli

  • We All Live Downstream: Writings about Mountaintop Removal - Jason Howard

  • Standing Our Ground: Women, Environmental Justice, and the Fight to End Mountaintop Removal (Race, Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia)- Joyce M Barry

  • The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Out Time - Jeffrey D Sachs

  • The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good - William Easterly

  • The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond The Non-profit Industrial Complex - Incite! Women of Color Against Violence (ed.)

  • Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in Without Going Crazy

GENERAL ENVIRONMENTALISM

  • The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age - Richard Louv

  • Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape: Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks - Bill McKibben

  • Living in Balance: A Dynamic Approach For Creating Harmony & Wholeness in a Chaotic World - Joel + Michelle Levey

  • The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community - Peter Katz

  • Dreaming the Future: Reimagining Civilization in the Age of Nature - Kenny Ausubel

  • Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future - Mark Hertsgaard

  • A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There - Aldo Leopold

  • Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology - Gould + Lewis

  • Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century - Alex Steffen

  • Earth: Inside and Out - Edmond A Mathez (ed.)

  • EcoForestry: The Art and Science of Sustainable Forest Use - Alan Drengson + Duncan Taylor (ed.)

  • The Vulnerable Planet: a short economic history of the environment - John Bellamy Foster

  • Wildfire - Scott Thybony

  • Sustainable World Sourcebook: Critical Issues, Viable Solutions, Resources for Action

  • Restoring the Pacific Northwest: The Art and Science of Ecological Restoration in Cascadia

  • Wilderness and the American Mind - Nash

  • The Dream of the Earth - Berry

  • Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth - Logan

  • The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment

FOOD

  • Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket - Brian Halweil

  • American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of its Food (and What We Can Do About It) - Bloom

EDUCATION

  • Methods that Matter - 6 structures for best practice classrooms

  • Affirming Diversity - The sociopolitical context of multicultural education

  • Processing the Experience - strategies to enhance and generalize learning

Garden/Environmental Education

  • Sharing Nature with Children - Joseph Cornell

  • Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature - Jon Young

  • Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World - David W. Orr

  • How to Grow a School Garden - Arden Bucklin-Sporer + Rachel Kathleen Pringle

  • Schoolyard Mosaics: Designing Gardens and Habitats - National Gardening Association

  • Pre K-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide

  • Conservation Education and Outreach Techniques - Jacobson, McDuff and Monroe

  • Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged

  • Let it Rot! The Gardeners Guide to Composting

  • Worms eat my GarbageThe New Seed Starters Handbook

  • Solar Cooking for Home and Camp

  • Carrots love tomatoes - Secrets of companion planting

  • Propagation Handbook - Basic Techniques for Gardeners

  • Gardening when it Counts - Growing Food in Hard times

  • Greenhouse Garden Companion

  • All New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening

  • Kids in the Wild Garden

  • The Meaning of Food - PBS TV Series Companion

  • Getting Started - Creating School Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms

  • How to Grow more Vegetables

  • Down and Dirty - 43 Fun and Funky Project to you Gardening

  • A year on the Garden Path

  • Gardening Undercover

  • A Book of Bees

  • Nature Smart

  • Seed Sowing and Saving

  • Outdoor Education - Guide to Planning and Implemenation of programs

  • Northwest Earth Institute - Global Warming Changing Co2urse

  • Gardening Wizardry for Kids

  • Sqaure Foot Gardening

  • Easy Garden Projects - to make, build and grow

LEADERSHIP 

  • Strengths Finder 2.0 - Tom Rath

  • Team-Building Activities for Every Group - Alanna Jones

  • Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time - Kevin Eikenberry

  • Affordable Portables - A Working Book of Initiative Activities + Problem Solving Elements - Chris Cavert + Friends

  • Quicksilver: Adventure Games, Initiative Problems, Trust Activities and a Guide to Effective Leadership - Karl Rohnke

  • Charisma - The Art of Relationships: Understanding the "cats" and "dogs" in our lives-an anthonlogy - Michael Grinder

  • Everyone Leads: Building Leadership from the Community Up

  • The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry

  • Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!: Ten Principles for Leading Meetings That Matter

  • Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most

  • Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life READ THE REVIEW

  • Community Conversations: Mobilizing the Ideas, Skills, and Passion of Community Organizations, Governments, Businesses, and People

  • Standing in the Fire: Leading High-Heat Meetings with Calm, Clarity, and Courage

  • How to design effective trainings

  • Fostering Sustainable Behaviour: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing - McKenzie-Mohr

  • Succeeding at Social Enterprise: Hard-Won Lessons for Nonprofits and Social Entrepreneurs

CAREER

  • Effective Business Writing: The Everyday Guide to Clear, Concise and Powerful Writing - Marica Dennis

  • Careers in Horticulture & Botany - Jerry Garner

  • Designing the Perfect Resume - Pat Criscito (for use in the office only)

  • The Perfect Job Search - Tom Jackson (for use in the office only)

LIFE AFTER AMERICORPS

  • Volunteer: a traveler's guide to making a difference around the world - Lonely Planet Publishing

  • Alternatives to the PeaceCorps: a directory of the third world & US volunteer opportunities - edited by Joan Powell

  • How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas - Collins, DeZerega, Heckscher

BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

  • Fire at Eden's Gate: Tom McCall and the Oregon Story

  • Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail READ THE REVIEW

  • I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban READ THE REVIEW

  • The Reaon I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism

  • The Crusades of Cesar Chavez - Pawel

  • Parting the Waters: American in the King Years 1954-63 - Branch

  • Planet Walker: 17 years of silence, 22 years of walking - John Francis, Ph.D.

NOVELS

  • The Power of One

  • The Monkey Wrench Gang - Edward Abbey

  • Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver

  • The Storied Life of AJ Firky

  • The Residue Years

SERVICE

  • The American Way to Change: How National Service & Volunteers Are Transforming America

  • Serving Country and Community: Who Benefits from National Service?

NOT YET CATEGORIZED

  • Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature

  • Therapeutic Landscapes: An Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces - Marcus & Sachs

OTHER RESOURCES

Center for Diversity in the Environment's resources page with articles and links to organizations

Checking books out

You can check out 2 books at a time - we will need them returned by the end of the year.

There is a clipboard next to the library that you must sign out the books.

We welcome suggestions for new books to add to our library. Please send them in!

GETTING DEVO HOURS FOR USING RESOURCE LIBRARY

You CAN'T claim devo hours for reading books.
You CAN get devo hours for giving a write-up about the books you read.

  • Maximum of 2 hours of devo per book

  • Write up needs to answer two questions: What was the book about? How does this relate to/effect your Service?

  • Write ups can not contain political views or other prohibited activities. Follow journalistic standard when writing about the book content, which is to say, report on the content only. Don't offer an opinion or pick as side so as to avoid crossing over into endorsement and lobbying.

  • Write ups will be shared for current and future Members as well as occasionally appear on the Confluence Center blog and other social media outlets.

  • Write ups should be sent to Ashlie to be reviewed/recorded/posted

  • Ashlie will be your devo backup at her discretion if the write up is well written and well considered.