Hidden among the thousands of books in Huntington Beach Public Library (HBPL), holds a wooden chest available to patrons. Unknown to many library cardholders, the library offers many different varieties of seeds to anyone with a library card.
Provided for seasonal planting purposes, many varieties of herbs, roots, melons, basils, edible flowers, decorative flowers and native plants are available free of charge, with up to four packets per month – and there’s no returning necessary.
The seed library began when Garden Pool, a charity organization dedicated to educating ways to grow food sustainably, reached out to HBPL in early 2016 to partner with them. The organization offered seeds free of charge to the library, and provided the majority of the seeds initially offered along with furniture to store the seeds.
The library also receives donations from groups such as Hudson Valley Seed, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, Adaptive Seeds, Seed Savers thru Herman’s Garden Seed Program, High Mowing Seed Company and Shipley Nature Center.
Though the HBPL now purchases the majority of seeds offered now as part of their general fund for public services, they also accept labeled and secure donations from patrons. When donated, the seeds are packed on a volunteer basis, whether it is volunteer seed librarians, the teen volunteer program, and some staff members.
These seeds can be used to revamp a water-hungry grass lawn or to make seed bombs to throw around the community (make sure that the seeds are native when planting in public).
For more information or access to other gardening programs provided by the library, visit https://hbpl.libguides.com/seedlibrary.
