Check Out Our Seed Libraries

By now, most everyone knows that libraries aren’t just about books anymore. 

But did you know that in addition to museum passes, blood pressure kits, snow shoes, wifi hot spots, and all the non-traditional items you can now check out from NCW Libraries’ 30 branches, you can also procure seeds for your garden in some locations?

Our Wenatchee, Entiat, Pateros, Twisp, and Ephrata libraries all have seed libraries. 

The basic ideas is that seeds are made available to the community for free. Gardeners are able to borrow seeds to plant and grow at home, and return saved seeds from their harvest to the library at the end of the growing season. 

Benefits of a Seed Library

Providing seeds for free makes gardening accessible for everyone. It encourages the community to learn and practice gardening and the art of growing your own food.

Other benefits of a seed library include: 

• provides a supported entrance into gardening for novices
• food security
• seed sovereignty
• community building
• preserves and increases genetic diversity
• helps people save money  

More About Our Seed Libraries

The seed library at our Twisp Library is just finishing its second growing season. During the main part of the growing season,114 people got 865 packets of seeds!

“One of our goals for our seed library is lowering the barriers to entry to new gardeners, so it was exciting to see that 29% of the folks who got seeds during that period were beginning gardeners,” said Twisp Branch Librarian Ree West. “Giving folks access to seeds really does help them feed themselves and their families.”

The seed library is Twisp has been a community builder, bringing experienced gardeners to the library to help Ree select and source seeds, repackage them for individual households, keep the seeds stocked and organized, and planning for the future. 

“I’m an experienced librarian but I haven’t done much gardening, so I knew that I’d need a lot of input from local experts to do this right,” she said. “Our seed library management team brings an incredible amount of knowledge and experience to the table to help this seed library succeed.”

The Twisp Library got a significant donation of locally grown seeds from the Methow Valley Seed Collective this year, and the library partnered with Classroom in Bloom and the Twisp Valley Grange to host a spring seed swap. 

“The Twisp seed library is 100% a Methow Valley success story,” West said.

The Pateros Library launched its new seed library earlier this summer. Library patrons were excited to get seeds and start planting. The library is looking to grow the program even more next year. 

“The seed library helps make gardening and trying out new plants more accessible to our community,” said Ana Trejo, Supervising Librarian for Pateros and Brewster. “Each packet offers the potential for 3 to 5 viable plants, and the handouts we provide include information on harvesting seeds. This encourages patrons not only to grow but also to learn and share what they’ve discovered. I believe the seed library is a great example of the creative ways our library district can serve the community by connecting people with resources and encouraging exploration of practical skills like gardening.”

Our Ephrata Library launched its seed library in 2017 with help from the local Master Gardeners. Branch Librarian Aaron Loeffelbein says the program is still quite popular. He brings seeds from the library to outreach events and they are always snatched up quickly.

The Entiat Library does not have a permanent seed library. But a library patron donated a large amount of seeds that the library uses for seeds swaps and are available for patrons to have.

At the Wenatchee Library, the seed library is paired with a plant propagation station. Several people have grown plants from seeds, then brought clippings back to the library for the propagation station.

Returning Seeds

Now is the time to harvest your seeds and return some to the library to replenish our seed library.

Learn more about how to save vegetable seeds y flower seeds.

Aprende más

Our library collection includes many books and other resources about seeds and gardening. Here are a few to get you started: