Like many libraries, the New Castle Branch Library loans more than just books. In 2024, in honor of Earth Day, it launched a new community resource: a seed library. Patrons can take up to five seed packets per month using their library card. That means interested gardeners can potentially plant very diverse gardens over the spring and summer.
The program is supported by community members, who can donate seeds with relevant information. Donations must include the name, variety, area of origin and date harvested (within the past two years). Planting and care instructions are also appreciated, to help patrons who are newer to gardening.
The program was highly popular last year, so much so that at the beginning of this month, it sprang for a second year. Branch Manager Ana Gaytan shared more about the program with The Sopris Sun.
“Last year we had wild flowers and vegetables,” she said. But the program was so successful that “this year we have wildflowers, vegetables and herbs.” The 2024 program debut saw 86 participants from Glenwood Springs, New Castle, Silt and Rifle take out over 200 seed packets. Gaytan hopes to see those numbers double this year.
The program was empowering for those who partook. “People were excited to have an opportunity to grow vegetables or wildflowers,” Gaytan explained, sharing several anecdotes. “A patron said she was able to try to grow vegetables that she thought would not grow but since the seeds were free, [she took] the opportunity.” Another patron had never planted a vegetable garden before because buying seeds was too expensive. Thanks to the seed library, “she was able to grow zucchini, cucumber and radishes,” Gaytan said. “We had a family who told us how they grew their own pumpkin that they later decorated for Halloween.”
Last year, to start the program, New Castle Branch Library partnered with Growing Empowerment to host a seed distribution and a transplanting workshop. Per Gaytan, it was a well-attended program. The library is unable to host that workshop this year due to construction, but hopes to partner with Growing Empowerment again next year. However, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers is hosting a free Pollinator Garden Installation Training the afternoon and evening of Thursday, May 29. Registration is required.
Gaytan and library staff hope that the seed library helps to strengthen the community and relieve grocery budgets. “The seed library is a valuable resource for the residents of Garfield County,” she emphasized. “The economy might not allow people that have the opportunity to buy seeds and grow their own food.”
“The theme of this program is ‘Neighbors Helping Neighbors,’” Gaytan added. The hope is that participating patrons collect seeds at the end of the growing season to donate for the following year. “People can share what they grow with others, or by collecting seeds and donating them to the seed library,” she said, encouraging the sharing of vegetable yields especially. When participants share and donate seeds, “we can keep the program going and growing.”
For those starting a garden for the first time, the library can help patrons access visual and audio resources on how to establish planters or set up a section of a yard. The Glenwood Springs Landfill in South Canyon sells compost, topsoil and wood chips. Many home improvement, hardware and garden stores sell bagged soils, which can be more convenient for smaller gardens. Prices for a 1-cubic-foot bag of topsoil run between $2 and $10.
While the El Jebel-based Growing Empowerment won’t be hosting a workshop at the New Castle Branch Library in the coming months, founder Kim Doyle Wille hosts frequent trainings across the region. She plans to release information about May workshops on the group’s Facebook page soon.
For more information on the New Castle library’s seed sharing program, you can visit and speak with a librarian, or call 970-984-2346.