Seed Library helps students’ food security, diets, mental health

Librarian Sandy McCarthy stands next to the Seed Library station. Willow Symonds | Washtenaw Voice

by WILLOW SYMONDS
Staff Writer

When a student wants to start gardening, even with just one potted plant, they have a convenient and accessible place to find seeds: the Bailey Library, right here on campus.

Sandy McCarthy, a WCC librarian, proposed the Seed Library in 2014. A year later, she successfully started it with funding from the Sustainability Council. She now serves as the council’s food and agriculture facilitator and manages the Seed Library.

Students can find the seed drawer in the library’s first floor Periodicals section.

The Library, like most of the campus, went on a hiatus in March 2020 due to COVID. The Seed Library then reopened in May 2021 for pick-up only.

“We are expecting to end [the pick-up only policy] by the end of the term,” McCarthy told the Voice. “Meaning, in May we should be open to all with no ID requirement. This is the plan unless something changes.”

Packets of herbs, fruits, vegetables, and flowers sit in the Seed Library’s drawers, waiting to be checked out. Once the borrower plants them, they harvest the newly-grown plant’s seeds, dry them, then return them to the Seed Library in the packet they started with (or any packet as long as it has the correct name).

Seeds packets in the “flowers” drawer. Willow Symonds | Washtenaw Voice

Returned seeds account for many of the packets in the drawers, while others were brought to start the chain of borrowing, planting, and returning. The Bailey Library only purchases from Nature & Nurture Seeds, a Dexter-located farm that grows non-pollinated, non-GMO heirloom seeds with high rates of germination.

Heirloom describes a seed’s heritage, specifically a documented heritage, passing down from generation to generation within a family or community. When a dormant seed successfully develops and grows again, gardeners call it “germination.”

According to the Seed Library Annual Report 2019, 95% of the seeds were borrowed that year. Community members borrowed 26% of seeds, WCC employees borrowed 19% of seeds, and students borrowed 55% of seeds. The remaining 5% of seeds stayed for the following year.

The Students for Sustainability Club helps with organizing and cutting seeds. After staying off campus for two years, they volunteered at the Seed Library again March 31, 2022. The club’s teacher advisor, Dr. Emily Thompson, said that this allows Sustainability Students to learn more about responsibility, leadership, and gardening.

“[Gardening gives people] the health benefits of exercise and eating better foods, aesthetic benefits from putting in flowers to benefit pollinators, and social benefits because now we can garden together,” Thompson told the Voice.

WCC isn’t the only place with a seed library. Sandy McCarthy has consulted with other seed libraries to get them started, including Michigan State University and the Ann Arbor District Library. She believes that all libraries should supply people with the resources they need to better themselves, whether through books or seeds.

“I believe that the Seed Library can teach students about food security,” McCarthy said. “Some non-credit courses help students learn the skills of starting a garden [as well].”

Starting this April, beginners and experienced gardeners can attend the Build Your Own Rain Garden webinar class every Tuesday, the Composting Made Easy webinar every Wednesday, and the in-person Container Gardening: A Plant in Every Pot class. Teacher Monica Milla instructs the latter, and also Heirloom Flowers Gardening for Our Feline Friends on campus, where anyone can learn to grow plants their cats will love.

McCarthy stressed the value of student involvement and the many ways the Seed Library strengthens people’s lives and their relationships to each other and the environment.

“I believe that the Seed Library can [combat] climate change by eating a more plant-based diet, […] promote healthy eating, and start community gardens in underserved communities,” she said.

Make sure to visit the Seed Library website for more information.

The Bailey Library is looking for enthusiastic students to help with organizing and planning workshops, seed sorting, repacking, and much more! Contact Sandy McCarthy at mccarthy@wccnet.edu or GM 126 if interested.