The seed library at Countway Library: a brown catalog surrounded by signage, brochures and a clipboard.Countway Community Garden Seed Library

We are excited to announce that our seed library will soon be fully restocked and ready for the spring! Located just inside the 695 Huntington Avenue entrance, the seed library is housed in a traditional card catalog and is available as a free resource to all community members. 

Got questions? Want to request a specific seed type? Interested in learning more? Reach out to us.

What is a seed library?

A seed library is a collection of food, herb, and native plant seeds that are available for the public to take home. As you harvest, you are encouraged to save your seeds and donate them back to the library for others to enjoy.

How it works

The concept of the seed library works like this: patrons “borrow” seeds from the library, plant them in your garden—whether it’s a pot, your backyard, or a community garden—and then, when it’s time to harvest, you save some of the seeds. Those saved seeds can be brought back to the library for others to borrow. 

While we carry a wide variety of seeds in our seed library, we especially encourage you to return seeds from plants that are fairly easy to save. This will help us in our goal of creating a self-sustaining program. 

The time honored tradition of seed saving promotes biodiversity and nurtures locally adapted plants varieties. By saving and sharing seeds, we strengthen our community’s ability to grow healthy, nourishing food while supporting the use of open-pollinated and heirloom varieties. It's all about growing together! 

Borrowing Seeds

Take up to 5 empty envelopes (1 for each seed type you want) and select 2-3 seeds for each plant you wish to grow (for example: if you want 2 tomato plants, take 4-6 tomato seeds). Then label your envelopes, fill out the seed pick-up form (this helps us know what's most popular), and have fun gardening!

Donating Seeds

Donations of clean, dry, non-hybrid seeds can be brought to the seed library. You can find the seed donation box, envelopes, and donation forms there. Thank you for helping us grow!