At Ferndale we've found that in order for the seed library to be sustainable, it needs to have a dedicated budget. I buy largely from FedCo. Their website is easy to navigate and I like being able to buy in bulk. We do take donations, but I found repackaging them too time consuming, so I just have a basket where patrons can put their donations and folks take them directly out with (almost) no staff involvement.

We've also been fortunate to get large donations from Whole Foods. They stock Botanical Interests seeds. Stores can only sell seeds for the current calendar year, but most seeds are viable for longer than that. I have a chart I reference for viability, and we've been able to supplement our stock nicely from that. It might be worth checking grocery stores or garden supply shops in your area to see if you could set something up.

There is also a TLN Seed Library listserv: seedlibs@lists.tln.org. It's not super active, but it's been very helpful.

On Mon, Sep 28, 2026 at 2:45 PM Jessica Bostian via Michlib-l <michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:

Good afternoon Michigan Libraries!

If your institution has/has had a seed library and have any suggestions, tips/tricks, warnings, rules/policies, etc. - would you be willing to send me your input?

I am planning to have one at my DPL location next spring, and was curious if most libraries simply purchased their seeds outright, or if you solicited donations, amongst other things.

Thank you in advance everyone! Happy Monday!

Jessica Bostian

Assistant Manager

Social Science, Education, Religion

Business, Science, Technology

Detroit Public Library

5201 Woodward Ave.

Detroit, MI 48202

Patent and Trademark Resource Center Representative

jbostian@detroitpubliclibrary.org

313-481-1403

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