On Seeds and Libraries: All the Things That Make It Tick

This is the final post on the development of the Seed Lending Library! We’ve come a long way – I have the seeds ready for circulation, a grant proposal submitted, a webpage with lots of great information, and many more little wheels in motion. I hope you’ll swing by the library and see our little collection soon!

 

We’re very close to being ready for our pilot launch!

I’ve got labels for my seeds (YAY!!!). I’ve got all the seeds we are planning to circulate divided into discrete packets. Working with our new Systems and Discovery Librarian, we’ve added a new collection type to the catalog – so the seeds have special circulating type (they’ll be checked out for one year, with no fines or fees). This way, we can also collect some data on what’s being checked out, and send a friendly reminder to please return the same amount of seeds you checked out. And apologies to my good friends in the 5 Colleges, this pilot is limited to those at Hampshire. But we WANT to support the entire community – just give us some time to grow our little starter roots – then we’ll be ready to bloom!

All of the varieties we’re piloting with are in the catalog – we just need to change the quantities.I’ve also added a couple of books to the collection, including:

• Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
• Organic Seed Production and Saving: The Wisdom of Plant Heritage
• Encyclopedia of Cultivated Plants: From Acacia to Zinna

And I have an ever-growing wishlist, including:

• All-New Illustrated Guide to Gardening: Planning, Selection, Propagation, Organic Solutions
• Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener’s and Farmer’s Guide to Plant Breeding and Seed Saving
• Composting: An Easy Household Guide
• Let’s Get Growing: A Dirt-Under-The-Nails Primer on Raising Vegetables, Fruits, and Flowers Organically
• New Organic Grower: A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener
• Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener
• Saving Seeds: The Gardener’s Guide to Growing and Storing Vegetable and Flower Seeds
• Seed Sowing and Saving: Step-By-Step Techniques for Collecting and Growing More than 100 Vegetables, Flowers, and Herbs
• Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food
• The Manual of Seed Saving: Harvesting, Storing, and Sowing Techniques for Vegetables, Herbs, and Fruits.

I’m also in the process of writing a grant. I’d like to write a paper on my experiences with the Seed Library, and I want to write a planning document that outlines how the Seed Lending Library will move forward – including how to classify the seeds (e.g., the easy-intermediate-advanced schema.. for all 250 varieties!), and next steps.

I’m hoping my next post is the “DONE” post. Wish me luck!

Originally posted September 13, 2013. You can view the original post here.