Library Seed Exchange

Some public libraries have started keeping seed libraries alongside the book stacks. Small cabinets hold labeled envelopes of vegetable and flower seeds you can take home and plant. The understanding is that you'll save seeds from your harvest and return them at the end of the season. Trust makes the system work. Gardeners tend to be the kind of people who follow through on that sort of exchange. The one at my local branch appeals to me because borrowing a tomato plant the way you borrow a novel feels right for what a library should be. Volunteers usually hand-label the envelopes, and the whole setup costs almost nothing to maintain. It turns the library into a place where you can explore growing things, not just reading about them.