Featured Seed Libraries
A Sampling of Our Diversity

Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (BASIL)

Location: Ecology Center, Berkeley, Calif.
Started: 1999
Organizers: Community volunteers
Special Notes: First seed library to open in the US. Have a very cool, downloadable planting guide for the SF Bay Area. Have a Curate-a-Crop program to get community members to grow out special varieties.  Original organizers and inspiration include Christopher Shein and Sascha Scatter with Terri Compost maintaining it for over a decade...until the soil was fertile for the idea to go fungal. Thank you, BASIL!
Cost: Free
Website: basilseedlibrary.com

Community Seed Exchange

Location: St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Sebastopol, CA
Started: 2009
Organizers: Transition Town initiative;  10 core members run it
Special Notes: Have a community seed garden on the church grounds and have weekly work parties. Seed collection is almost 100% locally grown. Seed library is open once a month and classes are offered.
Cost: Free
Website:  CommunitySeedExchange.org

West County Community Seed Exchange, Sebastopol, Calif.

Sustainable Food Center Seed Library

Location: Nonprofit, Austin, TX
Started: 2005
Organizers: Currently, Ellen Orabone, Grow Local Teaching Garden Coordinator, runs the Spread the Harvest program at the Sustainable Food Center, which offers a free seed library to all participants.
Partners: We have received many donations from different seed companies to stock our seed library. In the future, we will expand to be more of a seed bank, where local gardeners and farmers will be able to share their seeds with other community gardeners and farmers or store their native seeds for future seasons.
Special Notes: We are currently working with a Girl Scout troop to purchase materials needed to expand to a seed bank, complete with seed refrigerators, seed-saving workshops, and community seed swaps.
Cost: We purchase seeds (about $1,000 every year - funded by a grant) to stock the seed library from Mountain Valley Seeds and a local nursery – the Natural Gardener, and also receive donations from larger seed companies and other local nurseries.
Website: http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/grow-local/harvest

Spread The Harvest Seed Library, Austin, TX

East Palo Alto Seed Library

Location: East Palo Alto Library, East Palo Alto, Calif.
Started: 2011
Organizers: Collective Roots, food justice non-profit
Special Notes: Collective Roots, the founding non-profit, also operates the East Palo Alto Community Farmers Market and the only community garden in East Palo Alto.  We also teach free cooking, nutrition, and gardening classes throughout the community.
Cost: Free
Website: East Palo Alto Seed Library

East Palo Alto Seed Library, East Palo Alto, Calif.

Fairfield Woods Seed-to-Seed Library

Location: Public Library, Fairfield, CT
Started: 2010
Organizers: Public Librarians
Partners:
Special Notes: Have a garden on site connected to children's learning and connected to the Square Foot Gardening Idea. Go into the local schools and teach about gardening, including an after school program. Have a CSA pick-up at the library and a raingarden demonstration program.
Cost: Free
Courses Offered: Lacto-Fermentation,
Website

Fairfield Woods Seed-to-Seed Library, Fairfield, CT

Seed Library of Pima County Public Library

Location: Public Libraries, Pima County, AZ - includes Tucson
Started: 2012
Organizers: Librarians - initiated by Justine Hernandez
Partners: Native Seeds/SEARCH, Community Food Bank of So. AZ & Pima County Master Gardeners, community volunteers
Special Notes: Has 8 seed library branches throughout the county with inter-library loans of seeds throughout all county branch libraries. Seeds are searchable on the library database. Circulation data shows that about 60% of seeds are from locally saved and shared seeds.
Website: library.pima.gov/seed-library

Pima County Public Library Seed Lending Library, Tucson, AZ

Mountain View Public Library Seed Library

Location: Mountain View Public Library, Mountain View, California 
Started: April 2013
Organizers: Emily Weak, Librarian 
Partners: No official partners, but all seeds have been donated, either by the community or Seed Saver’s exchange.   Local gardeners Patricia Larenas and Hillie Salo have taught classes.  Community members also help repack seeds to keep the library stocked.
Special Notes:  We try to support gardening at all levels.
Events: Plant exchange in the spring, crop swap in the fall. Presentations and field trips as we can arrange them. Participating in the 2014 inaugural year of Silicon Valley Grows (one community, one seed).
Cost: Free 
Website