Seed libraries can maintain their collections through donations from members, but may also operate as pure charity operations intent on serving gardeners and farmers. A common attribute of many seed libraries is to preserve
agricultural biodiversity by focusing on rare, local, and heirloom seed varieties. Seed libraries can also receive donations from companies, either monetarily or through actual donations of seeds. For example,
Scottsdale Public Library is partnered with Blue Zones Project Scottsdale to provide seeds to patrons. Seed libraries use varied methods for sharing seeds, primarily by: •
seed swaps otherwise known as seed exchanges, in which library members or the public meet and exchange seeds • seed "lending," in which people check out seed from the library's collection, grow them, save the seed, and return seed from the propagated plants to the library Seed libraries may function as programs of
public libraries, such as the programs of the Richmond Public Library in California (the "Richmond Grows" program is the "unofficial spiritual center" of the public library seed library movement) and the
New Port Richey Public Library (Florida). Seed library initiatives in public libraries garner patron participation as a novelty supplement to book check-outs. Seed packets are usually located next to everyday circulated items like books, audiobooks, CDs, and DVDs. Seed libraries in public libraries have been successful because they catch patron hobby curiosities. Public libraries are an appropriate space for seed libraries because they make seeds and plants available to everyone. They are also located in college libraries, such as
Hampshire College's seed library; or as membership based online programs like the Hudson Valley Seed Library. Some have developed as programs of
botanical gardens, such as that of the
VanDusen Botanical Garden, or from gardening associations and research institutes, such as the Heritage Seed Library of
Garden Organic. Other seed libraries have evolved from community sustainability or resilience efforts, such as the
Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (BASIL) (the United States' oldest seed library, which developed from the
Berkeley, California Ecology Center); and still others from the
Slow Food movement, such as
Grow Gainesville's seed program. While "lending" is straightforward, "returning" or re-depositing seeds presents a challenge, since the new seeds are not necessarily well-described, and may be inadvertent
hybrids. Other libraries, like the Live Oak Public Library in,
Live Oak, Florida, ask that borrowers return seeds if possible but there is no penalty for not doing so, and they will not accept hybrid or
GMO seeds. Seed libraries complement the preservationist activities of
seedbanks, by collecting local and heirloom varieties that might otherwise be lost, and by collecting new local varieties. In theory, lending and returning seed libraries will also promote local agriculture over time, by growing collections of seeds locally adapted to the region. == See also ==