[Santa_Cruz_Permaculture] How To Save A Public Library: Make It A Seed Bank/NPR

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network]

How To Save A Public Library: Make It A Seed Bank
by LUKE RUNYON
February 02, 2013 5:17 AM
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/02/170846948/how-to-save-a-public-library-make-it-a-seed-bank?ft=1&f=1001

Despite the cold and snow, some signs of spring are starting to break 
through in Colorado. The public library in the small town of Basalt is 
trying an experiment: In addition to borrowing books, residents can now 
check out seeds.

In a corner of the library, Stephanie Syson and her 4-year-old daughter, 
Gray, are just finishing a book with a white rabbit on the cover.

When Gray approaches the knee-high shelves filled with seed packets, she 
zeroes in on a pack labeled "rainbow carrots."

"We just read two books with bunnies in them, so we've got bunnies on 
the brain," Syson says.

Syson flips through a wicker bin labeled "carrots" and offers other 
varieties to Gray, like "atomic red" and "cosmic purple."

Here's how it works: A library card gets you a packet of seeds. You then 
grow the fruits and vegetables, harvest the new seeds from the biggest 
and best, and return those seeds so the library can lend them out to others.

Syson says tending a garden in Western Colorado can be frustrating. The 
dry climate, alkaline soils and short growing season keep many novices 
from starting. She'll take seeds from the plants that withstand pests 
and persevere through drought.

"If you save seed from those plants, already, in one generation, you 
will now be able to grow a plant that has those traits," Syson says.

The seed packets are a novelty within the library's more mainstream 
collection of books, CDs and DVDs.

The library's director, Barbara Milnor, says in the age of digital, 
downloadable books and magazines, the tangible seed packets are another 
way to draw people in.

"You have to be fleet of foot if you're going to stay relevant, and 
that's what the big problem is with a lot of libraries, is relevancy," 
she says.

Milnor says that while a library may seem like an odd location for a 
project like this, seeds and plants should be open to everyone. That 
makes a public library the perfect home for a seed collection. The 
American Library Association says there are at least a dozen similar 
programs throughout the country.

Back at the front desk, Syson and Gray place the rainbow carrot seed 
packets on the counter.

Syson says the library has always been a place for her daughter to 
learn. The seeds just add another lesson.

"For her to see a little pot of dirt and to plant a seed into it, and 
then 30 days later being able to eat something from it is really 
exciting for her," she says. "She really enjoys seeing that whole process."

A process that now includes a trip to the local library.

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