71 Number of institutions recognized by the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries. These libraries are often housed within public gardens, arboretums, or universities around the world. 2004 Year the first seed library opened in a public library. Hudson Valley Seed Library—which has since evolved into Hudson Valley Seed Company, selling seeds and garden-themed art—got … Continue reading By the Numbers: Gardening
Serratos started her first seed library in 2014 at her elementary school in Mission Viejo, California, after learning about healthy eating, gardening, and sustainability. Through Three Sisters Seed Box, she has now helped place seed libraries in all 50 states and has filled requests from as far away as India. American Libraries talked with Serratos … Continue reading Newsmaker: Alicia Serratos
To mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day—and recognize the American Library Association adding sustainability as a core value—American Libraries returns with its ongoing sustainability series. In these posts, information professionals share their experiences with sustainability in libraries. The Sustainability Canvas is adapted from the Business Model Canvas (BMC), the one-sheet graphic organizer found in Alexander Osterwalder … Continue reading Paint It Green
This column is one in a multipart American Libraries series that explores the library profession’s relationship to sustainability. Sustainability does not mean continuing the public library, its facilities, and its roles as they are now. It may mean retaining key elements of the library while changing many others. Or it may mean retaining the core values … Continue reading Sustainability in Public Libraries
The basic concept of a seed library is fairly simple: Gardeners “check out” seeds to plant in their own gardens, and when the growing season is done, they save seeds from the plants they grew and return them for other gardeners to use next year. In practice, seed libraries adapt this basic concept to the … Continue reading Not Your Garden-Variety Library
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from an article in the January/February 2015 issue of American Libraries. The rise of seed exchanges—now numbering more than 300 across the US—has been accompanied by plenty of enthusiasm from librarians and patrons. But Cumberland County (Pa.) Library System’s Simpson Seed Library attracted a whirlwind of controversy and misinformation … Continue reading Seed Libraries and State Laws
