Borrowing from the Seed Library is free and easy, and open to all members of the public, but you will need a KPU library card. Don't have one? See the Community Borrower information below.
Seeds are packaged in small envelopes with just enough seed for the average home gardener. This might be a teaspoonful of kale or lettuce seeds, or it might just be a few squash seeds.
Please be considerate of other borrowers and limit yourself to not more than 10 varieties/types, or what you think you can realistically grow.
Seeds in the collection are arranged from "easy" to "difficult" depending on the ease with which seeds can be grown out and remain "true" to the parent plant.
This does NOT refer to the level of difficulty in growing the plant.
If you are new to seed-saving, we recommend starting with the "easy" seeds first. Intermediate and difficult seeds often require large distances between varieties or even species within the same family to ensure no cross-pollination.
See the FAQ link below for more information about how the seeds are organized.
Once you have made your selections, we ask that you complete the simple Borrowing/Sign-out sheet located near the seed drawers. This helps us track which seeds are most popular and how our users are affiliated with KPU. We do not share your information!
Proceed to the service counter with your KPU card and staff will complete the borrowing process. We ask that you use your KPU card to "check out" your seeds only so that we can email you in the fall to gently remind you to make a seed donation back to the library. If you were not successful growing and saving seeds from seeds you borrowed, that's ok! Please consider bringing in some other seeds to help keep the library going. See the next page for details.
We offer the following services to holders of our Community Borrower card:
Getting your card takes only a few minutes; you MUST bring with you a piece of photo identification AND proof of current address.
Click here for further details on how to obtain a community borrower card.