Patrons at three of Durham County’s public library branches might have noticed something new last week – old-fashioned card catalogs housing packets of seeds.

The seeds are part of the Digging Durham Seed Library, a program that makes seeds available for “check out” to members of the community in exchange for the “return” of harvested seeds once the growing season is over.

Library patrons at Durham’s Main, South Regional, and Southwest Regional libraries can take home up to four varieties of seeds while supplies last.

Via Take Part:

“We’re a foodie town and a very DIY town. We have a wonderful farmers market,” says Joanne Abel, humanities and adult programming coordinator at the Durham County Library, “so it’s just a perfect mix” to bring a seed-lending program into. The Richmond Grows Seeds program at that California city’s public library inspired the Durham library’s new collection. In the run-up to the launch, the library has held a series of seed-saving workshops and has been asking for donations from local nurseries, farms, and backyard gardeners. It will have about a thousand seeds per participating branch, most of them open-pollinated, with varieties ranging from those sold by commercial seed companies to more personal selections, including a mild green pepper donated by someone who got his seeds “from John at work.” Only five donations currently carry such personal, albeit short, stories about the variety’s background; the majority of the donations are from garden centers. Still, Abel hopes that in future years the seed collection will feature plants that are not only adapted to Durham’s climate but can tell stories of the area’s gardens and farms too. She’s trying to get the Center for Southern Folklore at the University of North Carolina to work with the seed library, and she plans to have a website that features the stories behind the seeds people donate to the program.

Take Part – This library is bringing plant seeds into the stacks

Interested in donating seeds to the library?

The seed library will accept donated seeds throughout the year at every location. Donors should place the seeds in an envelope, with their name and contact information, as well as the history of the seeds, including how they are linked to the donor’s family, house or farm and the plants they produced. While all donations are appreciated, the library is especially focused on open pollinated and/or heirloom flower and vegetable seeds well-suited for Durham’s climate. The library will accept hybrid seeds usually sold at retail garden centers, although these types of seeds can only be used for growing, not saving. Donors may also give already opened seed packets if they have been stored in a cool, dry environment and are less than two years old.

More information here.