Launch of a Seed Lending Library!

Thanks to May graduate Hannah Haskell 08F and our own Thea Atwood, Interdisciplinary Science Librarian, the Harold F. Johnson Library has a new seed lending library.      As part of her Division III project, Hannah researched and cataloged 250 varieties of plants, and then presented the library with binders of information and two large boxes of seeds.      Thea has painstakingly cataloged a subset of the seeds (beans, peas, lettuce, eggplant, and tomatoes), and now Hampshire students can check out packets of seeds just like books.  Students can plant them in a community garden on campus or grow certain varieties right on their windowsill. Once the plants produce fruits or flowers, students harvest new seeds and then return those to the library, thus sustaining the seed library for future users.   The seed library is located in our old card catalog (thus “upcycling” this antiquated piece of library furniture) on the main floor of the library.

Our new seed lending library is getting lots of publicity.  Read more about it on the Hampshire College web pages and the University Business Magazine  (scroll down several items and you will see it on the right).    And read more about the Seed Library itself on Thea’s Seed Lending Guide.   Be on the look out for more publicity to come…   We believe that we may have the distinction of being the first seed lending library within an academic library on a college campus!    Come check out our seeds and look forward to spring!