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Date: 5/12/2022
WARE – The Young Men’s Library Association has partnered with the Ware Grange #164 to start a seed library in the Reading Room that began on April 25.
This is the library’s first year doing a seed library and they are working with Treasurer Heidi Bara from the Ware Grange, an organization that focuses on agriculture education and community service.
“We’re using a card catalog,” said Children’s Librarian Cathy Goulet. “We stocked the card catalog with seed packets, and they’re all labeled with instructions on how to plant. People come in and pick what they want.”
This is free and available to anyone. The seeds are assorted alphabetically, and the library is asking people to limit five to six seed packets a person. Residents may also leave donated or harvest seeds as well.
Goulet and her director Heidi Reed said they were thinking about starting a seed library for a while, but Bara approached them and said she wanted to try it at the library. Bara heard about a seed library from other parts of the country and said she always wanted to start one.
“At the Palmer Library, the Boy Scouts put one together three or four years ago. They used the old card catalog in the library which I thought was a good re-purposing of furniture,” Bara explained. “It got me thinking again on what a great idea that is. I think the library is the best place to have it because you can get books there on how to grow seeds, different plants and get information on gardening.”
Bara reached out to all the seed companies she buys her own personal seeds from and most of them do donations. She’s working with five different seed companies and received a variety of herbs, vegetables, flowers and fruit.
Goulet replied, “It’s a great partnership with the Ware Grange. Heidi approached us with the idea. We had a place for them, and we thought that would be an interest.” She continued, “I’m part of a group on Facebook for librarians specifically programming and this has come up in the last year or two about seed libraries. I’ve seen some libraries post pictures of their seed libraries and how they do it, so it made me interested in doing it here at our library.”
So far, Goulet said the seed library has been extremely popular. People have been coming every day to get some seeds. Their seed list includes annuals, bachelor buttons, beets, carrots, cherry tomatoes, chives, corn, green beans, peppers, kale, spinach, parsnips, radish, sage, squash, Swiss chard, thyme, sugar snap peas and more. The library will update and add new seeds on the list in the coming days. They are looking to see how this year goes and hope to do more seed libraries every year.
The Young Men’s Library Association is located at 37 Main St. They are open Monday 12 to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.. They are closed in July and August on Saturdays. Call at 967-5491 for inquiries on specific seeds.