An Examination of Seed Libraries across two Academic Institutions

Urban Library Journal Urban Library Journal

Volume 26 Issue 1 Article 3

7-15-2020

An Examination of Seed Libraries across two Academic An Examination of Seed Libraries across two Academic

Institutions Institutions

Holly M. Dean

University of Tennessee Knoxville

Jennifer Mezick

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Dean, H. M., & Mezick, J. (2020). An Examination of Seed Libraries across two Academic Institutions.

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An Examination of Seed Libraries across Two Academic

Institutions

By Holly M. Dean and Jennifer A. Mezick

Abstract

Seed libraries provide new and engaging outreach possibilities while facilitating

healthy sustainable communities. Regardless of the type of institution or

organization, seed libraries can facilitate food access and social and environmental

sustainability, foster community, and open doors for new partnerships. This article

examines development of seed libraries in higher education at two institutions. In

their early stages, these libraries have proven successful in meeting their missions.

The initial seed library was developed at a community college; it inspired and

influenced the establishment of an experiential learning initiative at a Tier 1

university. Together these two programs are collaborating across departments to

support the greater missions of their institutions, and have worked together to meet

an overall community-minded mission. This paper provides a case study to

illustrate how other higher education institutions can establish seed libraries to

support food access and sustainable communities, and enhance student learning.

Keywords

Seed libraries, seed sharing, community engagement, case study, program analysis

Author Biographies

Holly M. Dean is an assistant professor and Student Success Librarian for

Experiential Learning at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She holds a

Master of Science in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer A. Mezick is an assistant professor and Collection Strategist at the

University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She holds a Master of Science in Information

Sciences from the University of Tennessee and a Master of Arts in Photographic

Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University.

Introduction

Seed libraries provide free access to open-pollinated seeds—usually fruits,

vegetables, herbs, and flowers—as well as information resources. They can provide

new and engaging outreach possibilities while facilitating healthy sustainable,

communities. Regardless of the type of institution or organization, seed libraries

can facilitate food access and social and environmental sustainability, foster

community, and open doors for new partnerships within the organization and the

with broader community. While seed libraries may take many forms, the start-up

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

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process includes several overarching elements. The elements examined here include

developing the seed library’s purpose and goals; establishing partnerships; planning

for materials; preparing the collection, including sorting and packaging seeds;

housing, organizing, and maintaining the collection, including building and

maintaining the collection; growing community participation; and tracking,

assessing, and showing the value of seed libraries.

This article seeks to provide readers with the knowledge and tools to establish their

own seed libraries, through the examination of the start-up process at two public

higher education institutions in Knoxville, Tennessee, the third largest city in the

state. Pellissippi State Community College (PSCC) is the largest community college

in Tennessee with five campuses, four libraries, and approximately 11,000 students.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT), is a land-grant institution and the

flagship research institution in Tennessee with three libraries and approximately

29,000 students. UT’s campus is located in the heart of Knoxville, extending west

from the downtown business district. These institutions were selected for this study

due to the first-hand knowledge of the authors, because there is a lack of scholarly

literature available on academic seed libraries, and because of the contrast provided

by examining seed libraries at two public institutions of different size and with

different missions within the same city. Additionally, these seed libraries

demonstrate the potential for academic seed libraries to integrate into their campus

communities to help further experiential education and food access.

Literature Review

Each seed library may have a slightly different mission related to the types of seeds

provided, the audience, the loan policy, and their primary goal. However, mission

statements reveal that several seed libraries seek to facilitate access to fresh foods

within their community; an effort that helps to alleviate food-insecure individuals

and areas. The mission of Richmond Grows (n.d.), a well-known seed library

program, is to “increase the capacity of our community to feed itself wholesome food

by being an accessible and free source of locally adapted plant seeds.” Seed libraries

with the Depauville Free Library (n.d.), Washington State University Jefferson

County (n.d.), and the Hickory Flat Seed Library (University of Georgia, Extension

Office, 2016) include “advance,” “increase,” or “strengthen” food security in their

mission statements. Described in later pages, the mission statements of the two

academic seed libraries under examination in this paper include the alleviation of

food insecurity as a central part of their missions.

Several studies have determined that food insecurity among higher education

students and staff is prevalent, which was a driving force in the integration and

expansion of the PSCC and UT seed libraries. Martinez, Maynard, and Richie

(2016) published results of a 2015 survey that revealed that 42% of students across

all ten University of California campuses struggled with food insecurity, with 23%

experiencing “low” food security and 19% “very low” food security. More impactful

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than this revelation is that over half of the students who reported struggling with

food insecurity also reported that this was the first time they had experienced this

struggle, showing the relationship of food insecurity to college life. The study also

details how food insecurity negatively impacts students’ ability to study and learn.

A recent study conducted by researchers at ten universities found that an average

of 30.5% of students in the Southeast and Appalachian regions of the United States

are food insecure (Hagedorn, R., et al. 2019). Other studies on this topic have been

conducted at universities across the country, from Alaska to New York, revealing

food insecurity rates from 21 to 59% (Chaparro, Zaghloul. Holck, & Dobbs, 2009;

Freudenberg et al., 2011; Lindsley & King, 2014; Patton-López, López-Cevallos,

Cancel-Tirado, & Vazquez, 2014). Internationally, similar surveys across Australia

revealed food insecurity rates among students between 46% and 48% (Hughes,

Serebryanikova, Donaldson, & Leveritt, 2011; Micevski, Thornton, & Brockington,

2014).

In addition to providing a route for greater access to fresh produce, seed libraries in

higher education may also provide a necessary element of learning gardens that are

used for experiential education and community engagement. Citing research from

K-12 and higher education, Dean (2018) finds that garden-based course integration

has the ability to teach students professional and community building skills, as well

as increase students’ understanding of food systems, food access issues, economic

diversity, cultural awareness, and ecological and social justice issues. In “Breaking

New Ground,” Ingalls (2017) explains that seed libraries in academia can engage

the community through workshops that provide hands-on skills and serve as a focus

for facilitating conversations related to social justice, food production, and ecology.

While there is a growing body of scholarly work supporting the purpose of seed

libraries, few provide an in-depth discussion on the process for starting a seed

library. In

Audio Recorders to Zucchini Seeds

, Tanner and Goodman (2017) tackle

the subject from the public library perspective, encouraging local gardening of

heirloom seeds. They point to the Plan Patent Act of the 1930s as the catalyst that

drove commercial engineering of seeds and the shift in “our dependence from small

seed suppliers to large commercial seed” (p. 63), leading to the decline in seed

diversity. The authors provide valuable information on how states may have

regulatory laws preventing seed libraries from starting, such as in, Pennsylvania

where, until 2015, seed libraries were classified as distributors and subject to

performing germination tests. Tanner and Goodman include information on housing

and organizing the collection, facilitating checkout, building partnerships, and

marketing, but only provide brief ideas for how these can be accomplished.

While Conner (2014) does not mention academic libraries as a place to house seeds,

they provide examples of four seed libraries that have been initiated by college

students and student organizations: the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh-Main Seed

Library, the Sylva Sprouts Seed Lending Library, the Toronto Seed Library, and the

Demeter Seed Saving Project. Conner also addresses various issues relating to

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

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starting a seed library, such as funding, storing, packaging, marketing, and

facilitating check out.

Peekhaus (2018) states that “the lack of in-depth research about seed libraries is a

significant lacuna in the academic literature that begs a response” (p. 272). Their

study examines the start-up process by conducting interviews with ten public

librarians to learn about the motivations and logistics behind creating a seed

library. They determine that seed libraries align with public libraries’ goal to

engage and empower communities. Peekhaus suggests that there is a major gap in

scholarly literature related to seed libraries, specifically within academic libraries.

This article intends to fill that void by providing more detailed examples and

discussions of the start-up process at two academic libraries, reflecting why certain

decisions were made and how some of those decisions have evolved or have been

changed.

Methodology

Since the establishment of the PSCC Seed Library, we have presented at local and

national conferences where audience questions revealed the strong desire to know

how seed libraries are created and sustained, with regard to both larger

organizational goals and basic operational logistics. To address these questions, we

first analyzed our approach to establishing the PSCC Seed Library, and then

examined how that process influenced the approach taken to start the UT Seed

Library. Appendix A depicts a timeline of this three-year process, providing readers

a visual of the process and methodology used. We examined key aspects of the start-

up process of both seed libraries including self-reflections and seed library usage

statistics to develop best practices and guiding principles for other organizations

wishing to start a seed library. Different approaches taken to start these two seed

libraries are described in the sections that follow, along with our analyses of how

lessons learned can best be applied to other seed library start-ups.

Establishing Purpose and Goals

The underlying goals for establishing a seed library are generally the same

regardless of the type of institution or service community: to provide free access to

open-pollinated seeds and information resources. When starting a seed library, it is

beneficial to establish the purpose and goals at the project’s outset. Doing so can

provide a clear direction for creating the collection and program, and inform funding

and other support opportunities. Additionally, drafting a strategic plan/prospectus

can help shape the purpose and goals, and provide a path on which to meet those

goals.

Two different methods were used to establish the seed libraries at PSCC and UT. At

PSCC, we began building the seed collection and allowed it to grow as opportunities

within presented themselves. Two years later, the UT Seed Library was established

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by Dean along with another UT librarian. Taking lessons learned from the start-up

process at PSCC and incorporating conversations with administrators and faculty

at UT, Dean drafted a prospectus (as described below under “Overview of the UT

Seed Library”) and a literature review to help guide the program by outlining goals

and to help solicit support by providing talking points to use with key stakeholders.

This was important for the success of the UT Seed Library because of the

significantly larger size of the institution, and the culture in which new initiatives

are typically supported. Furthermore, this more formal approach enabled the

program to be developed strategically since the greater potential for seed libraries

had been realized.

As with any collection or program, several factors are key to establishing the

purpose and goals of a seed library. Throughout the examination of the start-up

processes, we asked several questions (Appendix B), which may be useful for others

looking to strategically and efficiently establish a seed library. For both the PSCC

and UT seed libraries, encouraging and empowering people to lead healthy

sustainable lifestyles (socially and environmentally) were at the forefront of our

purpose in establishing these initiatives. After connecting with campus partners

and understanding our community a bit better, food access became an important

component.

Overview of the PSCC Seed Library

PSCC is an open-enrollment two-year-degree-granting institution. Between 2015

and 2017, the largest population of students fell in the nineteen to twenty-three-

year-old age range, with the average population age hovering around twenty-three

(Pellissippi State Community College, Institutional Effectiveness, Assessment and

Planning [PSCC, IEAP], 2020). Roughly, 20% of the student population consists of

first-time freshmen, and over fifty percent of the student body are first-generation

students (PSCC, IEAP, 2020). The mission of PSCC is to provide “a transformative

environment fostering the academic, social, economic, and cultural enrichment of

the individual and the community” (PSCC, 2020).

The PSCC Seed Library works to support the College’s mission by providing

enriching and engaging opportunities for campus community members to

participate in campus events and volunteer opportunities that enhance knowledge

of local needs and resources while empowering users to lead healthy, sustainable

lifestyles. The PSCC Seed Library partners with the Hardin Valley Campus

Garden, located at the largest PSCC campus, as well as the office of Service-

Learning and Civic Engagement, the College food pantry, and faculty across

disciplines to create opportunities for experiential learning and societal

engagement. While the urban PSCC campuses can more directly address food

insecurity, the Hardin Valley campus has greater labor to develop and facilitate

such programs. Through its efforts, the Seed Library is able to support academic,

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

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social, economic, and cultural enrichment of the PSCC community. As the PSCC

Seed Library has grown, so have its purpose and goals.

Overview of the UT Seed Library

UT is a competitive-admissions institution and the largest four-year and post-

graduate degree-granting institution in Tennessee. It is located in an urban area

adjacent to the heart of downtown Knoxville. Between 2013 and 2017, the average

age of first-time freshmen was eighteen, placing the average student in the

enrollment-age category of “traditional” (University of Tennessee, Knoxville [UT],

Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, 2018, p. 10). One-quarter of UT’s

undergraduate population consists of first-generation students (UT, Division of

Student Success, 2018), and the largest population of transfer students come from

PSCC (Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 2017, p. 38). As such, the

relationship between the two schools has contributed to our strategic aligning of the

mission statements of the PSCC and UT seed libraries (Appendix C), allowing us to

pursue shared goals and purposes and to foster a wider community of engaged

students and citizens. The goals of the UT Seed Library are to engage students in

experiential learning; foster community through connections to peers, faculty, and

topics across disciplines; and increase awareness and understanding of global issues

such as food access/insecurity and other social justice issues, biodiversity, food

pathways, and environmental sustainability.

To meet the goals of the UT Seed Library, a prospectus was drafted to help guide

the establishment of the collection and program. This formal approach was taken

due to the larger size of the institution and because a greater potential for academic

seed libraries had been realized with the PSCC Seed Library. The prospectus states

the Seed Library’s mission and vision, the core values of the program, the program

outcomes, the service community, the budget for starting and maintaining the

collection, and workshops and other programmatic needs. This document provides

milestones for the first three years of the start-up process, includes potential

project/research ideas, and acknowledges communication and marketing needs.

Additionally, the prospectus identifies program leaders and partners, as well as

potential partners on campus and within the community. This living document

enables us to envision the scope of the UT Seed Library, provides a path for the

development of the program, helps to facilitate conversations with potential

partners, and furnishes evidence to administrators and stakeholders of the impact

that the seed library can have on the institution and community.

Establishing Partners

At PSCC, it all started with a single conversation. The idea of starting a seed

library first arose during a casual discussion between Dean and an English

instructor who spoke of an initiative to start a campus garden. After the Director of

Library Services gave permission to proceed, we reached out to the faculty member

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responsible for the campus garden initiative to explore how our programs might

align. We were then introduced to the campus garden manager and related campus

initiatives, such as the campus food pantry, which further strengthened the

partnership between our programs. Partnerships deepened when we applied for a

small grant from the PSCC Office of Sustainability to purchase supplies. Through

this effort, we connected with the office of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement,

which opened doors for student involvement and experiential learning through class

integration. This partnership also led to funding for events, such as seed-sorting

parties and seed-starting activities. In turn, these events brought awareness of

related campus resources and volunteer opportunities, and ultimately fortified

students’ use of the Seed Library collection.

Identifying and establishing partners for a seed library are important for growth

and program success, and partners will be different at every organization. As we

learned, potential partners can emerge from many contexts when the goals of the

seed library, the service community, and key stakeholders hold precedence. Related

initiatives can supply natural partners and stakeholders for the seed library and

help strengthen all programs involved. Forming these partnerships during the

start-up process revealed areas of potential impact and growth, and helped guide

the direction of both seed libraries.

Based on the experience detailed above, it has proven beneficial to develop a

condensed version of the initiative (Appendices D, 1–2) that can be easily shared

during a quick conversation, to describe how the seed library can support other

programs, initiatives, and departmental goals—this tool has enabled us to avoid

making partnerships in name only. Additionally, we learned that seeking out

organization and community events related to the seed libraries’ mission provides

networking opportunities and increases personal knowledge of other programs and

initiatives. Events and networking opportunities have included tabling at Earth

Day and employee wellness events, taking part in sustainability initiatives,

attending or participating in community seed swaps, and serving on advisory

boards for campus gardens. As a result of these events and others, we connected

with faculty, staff, and community members involved in initiatives that

complemented the Seed Library, such as a teaching garden at an elementary school

several blocks from one of the PSCC campuses. Applying for campus funding and

attending campus meetings further created opportunities to combine or

collaboratively support new initiatives.

With PSCC campuses spread out geographically and UT being a large institution,

communication among departments can be complicated; however, hosting meetings

for potential partners removed these large institutional barriers. We used these

opportunities to discuss the seed libraries’ vision and to gather ideas that would

help the Seed Library meet established goals. Disseminating information about the

seed library also opened doors for potential partnerships. Additionally, we

discovered the importance of being open minded, as these discussions may reveal

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

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opportunities to adjust the vision and better serve the needs of our community. For

example, the initial goal of the PSCC Seed Library focused on encouraging

gardening, but after meeting with the Hardin Valley Campus Garden manager, the

need to help facilitate food access was discovered, as was the need to expand the

users beyond PSCC affiliates.

Planning for Materials

Grants and Donations

A seed library consists of three components: seeds, seed storage envelopes or bags,

and a container to display, organize, and store the seed library collection. In

creating the PSCC Seed Library, we first solicited seed donations from select seed

companies and the local community, an effort that turned out to be surprisingly

painless. Knoxville, Tennessee, is a vibrant city with a robust network of residents

who promote gardening and related activities. Following seed-swaps hosted by a

range of organizations, remaining seeds were donated for the creation of the PSCC

Seed Library. A generous donation of seeds was also received from an heirloom seed

company because the mission of the Seed Library benefits community food support

programs. These donations allowed for a well-rounded collection.

The initial grant and donation awarded to the PSCC Seed Library, which totaled

around $200 for supplies and about 150 seed packets, specified that the collection

was for students, staff, and faculty, which meant that we were not able to lend

seeds to community borrowers until initial donations from seed companies had

cycled out of the collection. Lesson learned: potential patrons and donors should be

thoroughly vetted before being solicited for donations. Some companies or

organizations may be disinclined to donate to libraries providing seeds to

community users because they may lose business by donating seeds to the same

people who would otherwise purchase them. Limiting patrons can, however, put a

library in the situation where we found ourselves at PSCC, with generous donations

coming in from the community but community users being denied the ability to use

the seed collection.

Selecting Seeds

Initially, we accepted any seeds donated and selected a large variety of seeds to

provide our users with options. As the PSCC Seed Library began expanding, and

when starting the UT Seed Library, we drew from lessons learned during the set-up

process and from usage statistics as described in coming pages. We reflected

critically about several factors, including the gardening zone our institutions are

located in, the drawbacks of using genetically modified (GM) seeds, and the total

variety of seeds to select for each seed type.

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Knowing which seeds grow relatively well in each climate enables seed libraries to

seek out seeds with a high chance of succeeding in that gardening zone. The USDA

Plant Hardiness Zone Map of the Agricultural Research Service of the United

States Department of Agriculture (USDA, 2012) is a useful tool to use for selecting

seeds and supplying other information to users.

Through our research, we learned that GM seeds are not recommended, as plants

grown from these may produce sterile seeds that may not reproduce the following

season. Also, some GM seeds are patented, meaning that it is illegal to replant from

their harvested seeds (Conner, 2014, p.10). Both issues are especially important as

the mission of our seed libraries includes self-sustainability and environmental

sustainability. Sterile seeds work against these objectives. Clearly, if the goal is to

create a specific collection, such as native plant seeds or pollinator seeds, then that

goal will drive the type of seeds sought.

When selecting vegetable varieties for the PSCC and UT seed libraries, we learned

to limit the overall number of different varieties of each vegetable type. This

technique enables us to increase the number of seed packets for each variety while

reducing the effort and time spent selecting and sorting seeds for the collection.

Limiting the variety of each type of seed also reduces the overall maintenance of

these collections by reducing the likelihood of running out of a particular variety

and therefore the need to remove labels from inside the catalog or to update the

inventory. We thus streamlined our process for preparing seed packets for the

collection.

Preparing the Collection

At PSCC, seeds are repackaged to allow borrowers to grow three or four plants from

one package. The exact amount of seed per package depends on the type of seed, for

which instructions can readily be found online and on commercial seed packaging.

The UT Seed Library’s website provides additional information on planting and

growing each type/variety of seed in the collection (UT, University Libraries, 2018).

When repackaging seeds, we considered the number of plants anticipated to be

grown per user, as well as the dimensions of the new seed packets—both the PSCC

and UT seed libraries are using Kraft-paper coin envelopes measuring 2¼ x 3½

inches.

Before starting the PSCC Seed Library, we consulted with an urban public library

in Middle Tennessee that had recently created a seed library. One of the biggest

takeaways from that conversation was that sorting seeds into packages for the seed

library is extremely time-consuming. In this case, one public librarian had

dedicated many hours at home to sorting seeds for their collection. Had this

responsibility been left to us, the PSCC Seed Library would have failed.

Fortunately, many PSCC students need volunteer hours as part of the state’s

Tennessee Promise scholarship requirements. All that was needed was a way to

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

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alert students to the opportunities to meet their service requirement. From this

need emerged the idea of seed-sorting parties. While this public seed library did not

necessarily provide a good model for starting an academic seed library, it did enable

us to realize some complexities of starting a new collection that we had not initially

considered.

During the fall semester before the PSCC Seed Library was scheduled to open, the

office of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement provided the Seed Library with

$100 to purchase snacks for seed-sorting parties that would help draw student

participation. Student Life advised on peak times and days for student participation

in activities outside the classroom. As a result, three parties, aligned with class

times, were scheduled throughout that fall semester and marketed through flyers

and blasts to student and employee listservs. At the first seed-sorting party,

attendance included mostly employees and one or two students. By the beginning of

the second year, seed-sorting parties had attracted more students than the room

that was being used could accommodate. Everyone had to be very quickly relocated

to a larger area.

Seed-sorting parties have continued each fall semester in preparation for the spring

planting season. At PSCC, special guests are invited to each hour-long party to

provide information and promote awareness in an informal conversational setting

about resources and services related to seed libraries. Guests have included

representatives from nonprofit community farms and for-profit family-run farms;

researchers and garden managers from the University of Tennessee Institute of

Agriculture; and community members involved with local and national nonprofits

that save seeds for native or heirloom plants. During the seed-sorting parties at

PSCC, participants and organizers sat around one large table, family-dinner style.

We provided instructions and everyone started sorting. Introductions were made

around the table and, if necessary, we would kick-start the conversation by asking

the guest to speak about their research, job, or organization. At these events,

students became quite engaged and the conversations flowed naturally. Staff and

faculty often joined the parties, allowing for additional campus networking. In

addition to building the collection, these parties provided an informal experiential

learning opportunity. Often, students returned on their own time to continue

sorting seeds. Some needed more volunteer hours, while others wished to complete

service-learning projects related to the Seed Library. By advertising these parties

on student listservs, we also heard from students who were interested in sorting

seeds but unable to attend the scheduled parties. Following this show of interest,

we created a sign-in sheet and an area for students to sort seeds on a schedule that

worked for librarians and students alike.

Several lessons were learned from the experience of putting together and hosting

seed-sorting parties. During the first few parties, a spreadsheet was on hand listing

the quantity of seeds that should go into each Kraft envelope. The spreadsheet

created confusion among students: we were constantly helping students with the

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sheet and interrupting discussions. Writing on the original seed packet or bag the

number of seeds to place in each new envelope streamlined the process and allowed

more active participation in discussions. A written example of how to label the Kraft

envelopes also proved insufficient; we discovered that students benefited from

having examples of Kraft envelopes and their seeds on the table in front of them.

These examples have the Kraft envelopes labeled horizontally and provide a

physical sample that participants can touch to gauge how full certain Kraft

envelopes feel. Lastly, before each party, we prepared tables with seed packets and

bags, boxes of Kraft envelopes, pens, scissors, tape, and bead trays. During the first

party, enough scissors and tape were placed on the table for students to share

among three or four people; however, this arrangement created too much reaching

for and passing of supplies. Going forward, we placed one set of each of these for

every two participants, creating a better workspace.

For the UT Seed Library, pre-typed labels and stations in groups of two or more at

different tables yielded the most effective way to sort seeds. Each group had one to

two stations for sorting seeds into the labeled envelopes, a station for sealing the

envelopes, and a third for attaching the pre-typed labels. With this method, some

groups chose to divide volunteers across stations, while other groups chose to do

each step from start to finish. The UT seed packets were sealed using UT Libraries-

branded stickers rather than tape—a way to further advertise the collection.

Volunteers at the UT seed-sorting parties consisted primarily of library employees,

who found participating in these events very therapeutic. The decision to focus on

library employees was due in part to staff and faculty desires to be involved in the

process, to learn more about the initiative, and to take a break from daily work. In

fall 2018, we also hosted one course-specific seed-sorting party. Both approaches to

seed-sorting parties have proven to be effective for preparing the seed collections,

building awareness of the initiatives, and creating community ownership of the

collections.

Housing the Collection

At PSCC, we had access to decommissioned card catalogs, which, we discovered,

make excellent seed library cabinets as they provide the dark, dry environment

needed for proper seed storage, and with the rods removed, the cabinet drawers

were the perfect size for organizing and housing the Kraft envelopes described

above. They were also a cost-effective furniture solution for creating the new

collection. This storage method was also adopted for the UT Seed Library, which

similarly had access to a decommissioned card catalog (Figure 1). In addition to the

convenience, cost, and storage effectiveness of the card catalogs, we realized that

repurposing of old card catalogs in the library brings joy and engages many who see

it.

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Figure 1. Repurposed Card Catalog, UT Seed Library

Cabinets for storing and displaying a seed library collection may vary however,

depending on the space, resources, and desires of the library, as discovered when

expanding the PSCC Seed Library to three of the campus locations. Two of these

locations cannot accommodate a large card catalog. After researching options, we

worked with a member of the theater faculty to fabricate a compact seed library

cabinet, as shown in Figure 2.

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For libraries with limited space or no permanent location, a mobile seed library can

be a useful solution. PSCC has a fifth campus that is currently without a full-

service library. To serve patrons at this campus, we provide a mobile seed library

that is displayed when a librarian visits for weekly reference shifts. The collection

for this mobile library includes a small selection of seed types and varieties

representative of the larger collection, as well as handouts such as informational

bookmarks, and an iPad for accessing the seed library’s online resources. Since

Figure 2. Compact Seed Library Cabinet

Figure 2

. These thin cabinets can sit on top of a table or be mounted on a wall or

on the end cap of a shelving unit. The front is made of plexiglass with the seed

library logo engraved. The shelves are angled roughly 30 degrees to keep the seed

packets upright. Small angled wood jigs provide additional support to the seed

library packets and serve as a device to hold labels. (Supplies for these cabinets

were donated by a local hardware store.) The cabinets measure roughly 24 inches

in height, 20 inches wide, and 6.5 inches deep. Magnets secure the plexiglass door

when the cabinet is not in use. Their elegant design draws attention and

encourages users to explore the collection.

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

expanding the PSCC Seed Library to all of PSCC’s campus locations, interest in the

program greatly increased.

Organizing the Collection

The focus of the PSCC and UT seed libraries is to provide patrons with seeds to

grow food, so there are far fewer flower and herb seeds than vegetable seeds

available. For this reason, flowers and herbs are grouped together in the card

catalog, whereas the bulk of the collections are organized alphabetically by type

(e.g., beans, corn, eggplant, flower, greens, herb, lettuce, etc.). Within each type—for

example, lettuce—each variety is further organized alphabetically (e.g., Amish deer

tongue, baby oakleaf, buttercrunch, iceberg, little gem, etc.). The separation of herbs

and flowers has allowed patrons to find them more easily in the large cabinet. In

the seed library cabinets fabricated for PSCC’s smaller campus libraries, flowers

and herbs are alphabetized by their actual type and interfiled with the other seeds

(e.g., basil, beans, corn, dill, greens, lettuce, nasturtium, pansy, etc.).

When organizing the smaller cabinets, a bit of finesse was required to find the right

combination of seeds that could be stored alphabetically while still providing a

varied sampling of the larger collection. Variations in the thickness of the seed

envelopes also played a role in how we chose to organize them. For example, the

size of bean seeds compared to tomato seeds means that the bean envelopes are

much thicker. One variety of beans ends up occupying a single row while several

varieties of tomatoes can be placed on one row.

Since sustainability is a focus, seed saving is promoted through all of the PSCC

Seed Library displays, even in the labeling of the card-catalog drawers and inside

the boxes. Labels are outlined in green, yellow, or red to indicate the level of

difficulty in saving the seeds of each type (beginner, intermediate, advanced), and

corresponding instructional information about saving seeds is provided on

bookmark-sized handouts for quick reference. Other materials on display include

concise information about how the Seed Library works, lists of related seed and

garden books, and notifications of upcoming gardening workshops or seed sorting

parties. A more comprehensive reference resource with planting guides, how-to

articles and videos, and more detailed information about saving seeds is available

online (PSCC, Libraries, n.d.).

While it is somewhat common practice to label seeds as beginner, intermediate, or

advanced to indicate the difficulty of seed-saving for each plant, we found that this

method confused some seed library users and deterred inexperienced gardeners

from borrowing certain seeds from the collection. Aware of this potential issue, a

new organization structure was devised at UT to label card-catalog dividers with

icons that indicate planting season(s)—a green leaf, a sun, an orange leaf, and a

snowflake. As sustainability is a priority for the UT Seed Library, the Library has a

comprehensive online resource for reference, providing detailed information about

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the seeds in the collection, organic gardening and seed-saving practices, among

other related information (UT, University Libraries, 2018). Regardless of collection

organization, online information guides can be valuable resources for all gardeners

and seed library users and are also valuable open-access resources for community

members.

Building and Maintaining the Collection

Some seed libraries encourage their users to harvest and return seeds to the

collection, enabling a self-sustaining collection, while others encourage their

community to harvest and save seeds for their personal gardening purposes rather

than borrowing from the seed library each planting season. As an example, the

Hillsborough Community College (n.d.) Seed Library encourages users to return

seeds to the collection. In contrast, a seed library at the University of Arizona in

Tucson does not accept seed returns but encourages users to donate seeds to the

local public library (University of Arizona, University Libraries, n.d.). Knowing that

the percentage of returned seeds is often insignificant, we had to decide what would

work best for our seed libraries. In an effort to create some level of sustainability,

users of the PSCC Seed Library are encouraged to return seeds, mainly as an

incentive to get people thinking about the seed-saving process but not as a method

for replenishing the Seed Library supply.

In its first year, the PSCC Seed Library received one returned pack of seeds from a

student who had checked out the seeds the season before, grown them, harvested

the new seeds, and returned them to the Library in their original packaging.

Ideally, every patron who borrows seeds would return freshly harvested seeds.

However, this being an unrealistic expectation in most situations, the PSCC Seed

Library continuously seeks donations. PSCC’s Sustainable Campus Initiative

provided money to purchase additional seeds in 2018. Drawing from the experience

of starting the seed library at PSCC, Dean decided to encourage UT Seed Library

users to harvest and save seeds for their personal use the next planting season

rather than returning them to the collection in an effort to create sustainable

communities.

For seed libraries that encourage users to return seeds to the collection, there is an

additional level of risk associated with returned seeds, namely their unknown

vitality and trueness (i.e., the likelihood that the returned seeds will produce the

same type of plant as the parent seed). Returned seeds can be tested for

germination and trueness; however, this process may be costly and time-consuming.

Depending on how many seeds of each type and variety are returned, there may not

be enough seeds to obtain this information while also returning seeds to the

collection. Additionally, returned seeds have to be relabeled with current date

information. As an alternative, seed libraries can host community seed swaps.

While these events do not bring seeds back to the seed library collection, they do

encourage local sharing and sustainability.

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

As the collection grows and ages, it will be important to deaccession expired seeds.

The length of time seeds can be kept depends on the type and storage conditions. As

for all perishables, a cool, dry place is optimal storage for seeds. At PSCC, the aim is

to complete an inventory of seeds remaining in the cabinets and weed out aged

seeds during the winter months, in preparation for each spring planting season. The

inventory provides a snapshot of what remains in the collection and where any gaps

exist. The same model will be followed as the UT Seed Library ages. In addition to

inventory and weeding, the cabinets need periodic rearrangement. This task can be

done by a student worker or library volunteer assigned to straighten seed packets

and refill any drawers or shelves that are sparse. Oversight has been critical to

ensuring that maintenance is completed.

Growing Community Participation

The PSCC and UT seed libraries were aligned with institutional missions and

related campus initiatives and programs, links which enabled the collections to

grow and develop naturally over time. We considered the possible need for food

access across our campuses and the desire to garden among faculty, staff, and

students. We also considered what roles community members could have and how

the collections integrate into greater initiatives at the respective institutions—

including potential for course integration. We hoped that involving the community

during the development and expansion processes would increase interest and create

a feeling of ownership. Regardless of the initial intentions for the seed library

initiative, maintaining flexibility, regularly examining goals, and gathering

feedback from stakeholders and potential users enables the seed libraries to grow

sustainably and best align with the needs and desires of the user communities.

Promoting the Collection

While seed libraries may seem to be a familiar and easily understood phenomenon,

we have discovered the importance of explaining what a seed library is, before

delving into their unique components and providing context for seed libraries in

society and in our organizations’ service communities. Showing the value of the

collection and program to the community has been critical to promoting the

collection. Since food access is part of the missions of the PSCC and UT seed

libraries, we actively researched food insecurity in higher education and used the

data found to help show the need for seed library programs at both organizations.

Collaborating with organization and community partners has been a productive and

efficient way to spread interest and promote the PSCC and UT seed libraries by

word of mouth. Partnering with the campus gardens and other sustainability

programs at each institution effectively promoted the seed libraries and other

community resources while facilitating the success of all initiatives involved. At

PSCC, we partnered with the Hardin Valley Campus Garden, established at the

same time as the seed library, creating simultaneous opportunities for community

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involvement and program expansion. At UT, the seed library is being established at

the same time as the Grow Lab, a campus urban garden. As with PSCC, this

opportunity to partner with related programs and initiatives on campus has

naturally facilitated the promotion of the seed library and opened doors for program

collaboration, student involvement, and greater community impact. Because of

these partnerships, the UT and PSCC seed libraries have seen integration into

courses across the curricula, from English Composition to Geographic Information

Systems (GIS).

At PSCC, monthly emails proved to be an effective way to remind the community

about the program while also encouraging use of the collection. The PSCC Seed

Library opened in the month of January, allowing for timely transition into the local

gardening season, which starts in February for those planting from seed. The PSCC

Seed Library began sending monthly emails in February, offering tips on starting

seeds and highlighting early-season growers such as kale, lettuce, peas, radishes,

and spinach. Tracking with the growing season, we used the month of March to

share information with PSCC users on transplanting their seed starts, as well as on

what seeds to start next. Established campus (employee and student) listservs are

used to promote the collection and information resources. At UT, there has been

increased interest from the community in seed library events and opportunities to

help out. Due to the large size of the institutions, it may prove more effective to

start a listserv specific to the seed library rather than attempting to communicate

through multiple campus listservs. A challenge with this method, however, will be

to promote awareness of the new listserv.

Additionally, working with the PSCC and UT marketing departments and other

campus departments has been an effective way to advertise events and promote

seed library initiatives. At PSCC, the Seed Library partnered with Student Life—

the non-academic student support service—to include seed library events and

promotional information in their monthly calendar flyers, posted throughout

campus. At the grand opening of the UT Seed Library, the Library’s marketing

department created short videos for their social media sites (Twitter and Facebook)

on the day of the event, as well as displaying posters in the entrance of the main

campus library, a high traffic area. These promotions combined with word-of-mouth

advertising drew over 200 participants to the grand opening event, mainly students

who came to plant a seed that they could take home with them while learning about

the seed library initiative. Students were ecstatic about the opportunity to learn to

garden or to continue gardening, interests which they thought they had to leave

behind when they came to college. Immediately following the grand opening, over

80 individuals checked out seeds from the collection. The success of the event

showed us the strong desire for the program and created additional interest in

further embedding the Seed Library into the community. It also generated further

support from the library administration to host workshops and other related events.

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

Workshops

Workshops that cover a variety of gardening topics and methods were a natural

expansion for the PSCC and UT seed libraries. Partnering with the campus gardens

and local experts helped to facilitate workshops that contribute to the sharing of

local knowledge, enrich community engagement, and bring awareness of

organization and community resources. At PSCC, we began hosting workshops in

the summer of 2017 at the College’s largest campus in collaboration with the

campus garden. Seed Library data indicated a potential need for the Seed Library

to host gardening workshops at all campuses; the workshops were later

implemented.

Workshops facilitated by the seed library can also be integrated into courses for a

variety of disciplines. In fall 2017, Mezick collaborated with a faculty member from

the English department at PSCC, whose English Composition course was

discussing topics related to food access. The campus garden manager coordinated a

seed-winnowing workshop that was held outside the library during one of their

class sessions. Dried sunflower heads and other end-of-season crops were supplied

by the campus garden manager, who led the students in removing the various seeds

from their pods while discussing the importance of saving seeds and how such

saving can promote sustainability and continued food access for gardeners. This

class-specific workshop was wildly popular with participating students and with

passersby who stopped to observe and take part. A campus or community garden

space would also be a great location for hosting workshops.

During the 2018-19 academic year, Dean worked with a faculty member in the

College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources to integrate the Seed

Library into three different courses. These included a special topics First-Year

Studies (FYS) course called

Gardening for Life

and taught in both fall and spring;

an upper-level undergraduate GIS/GPS course; and an upper-level undergraduate

Soil Sciences course called

Environmental Climatology

. The Soil Sciences course

focused on the effects of climate change on global agriculture. For this course, the

professor reserved a plot at the newly created campus urban garden known as the

Grow Lab. Dean provided students with a brief introduction to the seed library

initiative and its mission and supplied seeds to plant in the class’s garden plot. As

shown in Figure 3, students mapped the garden bed using the square-foot

gardening technique and embedded soil monitoring equipment throughout the plot

to record changes in temperature during the growth season of the plants. This

experiment supplied students with firsthand experience that they could apply to

their global studies research in class.

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Midway through the fall semester, the FYS course,

Gardening for Life,

which visits

various campus and community resource sites pertinent to gardening and food

access, participated in a seed-sorting party to benefit the UT Seed Library (Figure

4). During this class session, students learned about seed libraries, the mission of

the UT Seed Library, and volunteer opportunities, while they helped to sort seeds in

preparation for the grand opening of the UT Seed Library. Students were highly

engaged during this class session and were eager to volunteer at future events

Figure 3.

Environmental Climatology

Course at UT

Figure 3.

The

Environmental Climatology

class participates in an experiential

learning project at the campus urban garden, where they monitor soil

temperatures throughout the semester using scientific equipment. The seeds for

this project were provided by the UT Seed Library. Photo courtesy of Don Fike,

Student Garden Manager at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

hosted by the Seed Library. In the spring semester, the FYS

Gardening for Life

course once again coordinated with Dean, this time to help transplant pollinators

into the Seed Library’s garden plot.

In the spring semester, students in the 300-level GIS/GPS course learned how to

use GIS software in a real-world context through projects such as mapping the

Knoxville, Tennessee, community which includes the UT and PSCC campuses.

Students identified food-desert locations and vulnerable population groups,

potential sites for community gardens, and potential sites where the UT and PSCC

seed libraries might host gardening workshops to help facilitate food access. The

data gathered in this course can potentially become a part of the UT Seed Library

collection for future use by other courses at either institution. Whether hosted

independently or integrated into a course, workshops can be a valuable way to

expand seed libraries and integrate them deeper into the community.

Figure 4. FYS

Gardening for Life

Course at UT

Figure 4.

In the FYS

Gardening for Life

course, students helped sort seeds in

preparation for the grand opening of the UT Seed Library, while learning

about the mission of the seed library initiative and ways to get involved.

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Assessing and Showing the Value of the Program

When establishing the PSCC Seed Library, we knew that assessment and showing

the value of the Seed Library were going to be vital to our long-term success.

Knowing that tracking use of the collection would be of value to key stakeholders

and to the guidance of the Seed Library’s future, we created a statistical data-

gathering system which took into consideration the overall vision of the Seed

Library. Various methods for gathering usage statistics were considered and

included how the data would be displayed and how easy it would be to read and/or

compile. At PSCC, the Seed Library uses a SpringShare product (first LibAnalytics,

then LibInsight) designed specifically for libraries. These products constitute the

main statistical data-gathering system already in use at PSCC Libraries and thus

provided a ready means of gathering seed library statistics without additional cost

or personnel familiarization time.

When first setting up the usage form in LibAnalytics, PSCC included the following

data points: patron type (student, staff, faculty); email (optional); and seed type,

broken down alphabetically, with a separate category for herbs. Seed categories

were set up as check boxes, allowing more than one option to be selected within

each category. In the original LibAnalytics dataset, seed varieties were included;

however, we quickly discovered that including them was a significantly more time-

consuming way to keep the form up to date and tracked more information than was

necessary. By including only broad seed types, we could satisfactorily track the type

of seeds that were popular among the user population. Annual inventory of the

collection provided additional information about which varieties were most popular.

In the fall of 2018, PSCC migrated to LibInsight, Springshare’s replacement

platform for LibAnalytics. The new form, shown in Figure 5, includes campus

location to allow analysis at the different campuses. And, rather than check boxes to

track the type of vegetables borrowed, users now enter the total number of seed

packets for each type of seed selected, thus reducing the time spent entering

information into the form; previously, a new submission had to be entered for each

seed packet of the same type taken by a single patron.

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

LibWizard, another SpringShare application that allows subscribers to conduct

surveys, was used to create a check out form for the UT Seed Library. The form

contains the following categories: patron type (student, staff, faculty); reason for

borrowing seeds (personal use, a class project, a community project, other); and type

of seeds being borrowed (check boxes). This section is followed by a breakdown of

varieties within each type where more than one variety can be selected, as shown in

Figure 6. Lastly, the form has an optional email text box for users who wish to

participate in a user survey.

When selecting seeds for the UT seed collection, data from the PSCC Seed Library

was used to determine which seed types were most popular among users. A small

selection of varieties within each seed type were then chosen. At PSCC, users select

their seeds from the collection and then bring them to the reference desk where a

librarian completes the LibInsight form. At UT, users select their seed packets and

then fill out the form themselves on an iPad adjacent to the card catalog containing

the seed collection. Librarians are still available to answer user questions at the

public services desk located directly adjacent to the Seed Library, but users do not

have to wait in line to check out their seeds. When determining whether to use a

self-checkout method or have users interact with staff, we considered the questions

found in Appendix B. Answering these questions helped us determine the best

method for tracking the UT Seed Library collection.

Figure 5. A Portion of the PSCC Seed Library Checkout Form, Created Using

SpringShare’s LibInsight Program.

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Turning Statistics into Advocacy

Whatever program or software is used to track the seed library collection, the data

gathered can reveal the value of the collection. When starting the PSCC Seed

Library, we assumed that staff and faculty would be our immediate primary users,

and that we would need to develop a strategic plan for reaching out to students.

However, within the first semester that the PSCC Seed Library was open, it was

clear that the students were naturally drawn to the collection. From the time the

collection opened in January to the end of the first spring semester in May, the

statistics gathering system recorded 109 transactions, of which 65% were with

student users. When the Seed Library expanded to PSCC’s three other campus

locations, this trend continued, with student users increasing to 71% of the total

user population, as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 6. A Portion of the UT Seed Library Checkout Form, Created Using

SpringShare's LibWizard Program.

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

The statistics gathering system also captured the total number of seed packets

taken, which jumped from 323 in the first semester to 820 in the next academic year

(with the majority occurring during the spring semester). This data was compared

to campus enrollment totals to judge interest in the collection compared to

headcount at each campus. While data shows good use at all campuses, the

Magnolia Avenue and Division Street campuses, which are located in urban food

desert locations (USDA, 2017), have shown the highest usage of the collection per

capita (Figure 8). This data suggests that the PSCC Seed Library may be

successfully connecting with its target user population and aligning with the goals

pertaining to food access. Tracking the collection use can show the interest of such a

program within our community. Additional research is needed to determine the real

reasons patrons are using the Seed Library and if the service is alleviating access

issues to fresh produce and supporting experiential learning initiatives.

Figure 7. Usage of PSCC Seed library (Spring 2017)

Figure 7

. First semester data (spring 2017) from the PSCC Seed Library. The

chart shows that 71% of collection users were students, 22% were staff, and 7%

were faculty.

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It is the intention of the UT Seed Library to survey users who choose to provide

their email addresses at checkout about their gardening experience and purpose for

gardening. This data will provide information on our user population and indicate

potential needs for information as well as for additional outreach services. It is our

hope that by collecting this type of qualitative data, we can provide a narrative to

accompany quantitative data and use these stories to further guide and bring

awareness of the seed library initiative.

Figure 8, Seed Packets Checked Out Per Capita, Spring

2018

Figure 8

. Seed packets checked out per capita for each PSCC campus, Spring

2018. Magnolia Avenue and Division Street campuses show the highest

number of seed packets checked out per campus enrollment; these two

campuses are located in food deserts within Knoxville, Tennessee.

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

Conclusion

Like any new initiative, starting a seed library comes with lots of lessons learned

and with transformations in purpose and direction as the program evolves and

grows. A public librarian’s first-hand experience was invaluable during the

planning stages of the PSCC Seed Library. When starting the UT Seed Library,

Dean relied heavily on lessons learned from the PSCC Seed Library. Looking back

on the two processes, limiting the number of seed varieties, as was done with the

UT Seed Library, has been one of the most beneficial differences in the start-up

processes of the two seed libraries. This may not be the right decision for every type

of library, but at our academic institutions, this has made the Seed Library more

manageable without affecting the mission of the program.

Additional knowledge can be gained on the impact of seed libraries on their

communities through user surveys and interviews which can further inform the

start-up process and identify a direction for new seed libraries. Understanding

where

how

, and

for

what purpose

communities are using seed libraries can yield

more in-depth understanding and further direction for established seed libraries to

better serve their communities. At PSCC, it took almost a year to start the seed

library, and at UT, it took a year and a half. The lengthy start-up time involved

many meetings and a lot of networking to bring internal stakeholders on board.

Without the time dedicated to building community engagement and planning

applications for the seed libraries, neither would be sustainable. Establishing the

community connections is, without a doubt, the most important step of the start-up

process. Further research is needed to demonstrate the success of seed libraries

within academic institutions and to illustrate the many ways in which seed libraries

can be used for experiential education.

A concluding thought for academic seed libraries is that the term “seed library” has

proven a difficult concept for outsiders to envision, making it hard to realize the full

potential of these programs. This difficulty has, therefore, prompted discussion of

how we can frame these crucial community services. For professionals involved in

managing seed library programs, we need to adopt an all-encompassing name that

all stakeholders and community members can understand and feel empowered to be

a part of. This struggle is not a new notion to libraries, who battle the age-old

thinking that libraries are merely about books.

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from https://new.library.arizona.edu/seed-library

University of Georgia, Extension Office. (2016).

Hickory Flat seed library

. Retrieved

from https://extension.uga.edu/county-offices/cherokee/agriculture-and-

natural-resources/community-projects/hickory-flat-seed-library.html

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University of Tennessee, Knoxville. (n.d.). Mission and vision.

Vol vision strategic

plan.

Retrieved from https://volvision.utk.edu/mission-vision/

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Division of Student Success. (2018).

First-

Generation Students.

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generation-initiative/

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Office of Institutional Research and

Assessment. (2018). 5-year trend of first-time freshmen enrollment by age

group, fall 2013-2017. Retrieved from https://oira.utk.edu/wp-

content/uploads/sites/66/2018/10/Archive-17_18-Fact-Book.pdf

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, University Libraries. (2018).

Seed libraries &

gardening.

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Washington State University, Extension, Jefferson County. (n.d.).

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Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

Appendix A. Start-Up Timeline for PSCC and UT Seed Libraries

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Appendix B. Key Questions and Considerations

When establishing a seed library, we considered the following questions to help

inform and guide the process:

Purpose and Goals

What does this collection/program seek to accomplish?

Who is the target audience?

What are their needs?

How will the collection/program benefit users?

What is the mission of the library/organization, and how does this

collection/program align with those?

For what purpose will the collection materials be used?

Will seed donations and/or harvested seeds grown from the collection be

accepted or encouraged?

Assessment and Showing Value

Do we have the manpower to assist users with the collection?

Is there concern over wait times for assistance?

What type of software or program will be used to track the collection?

Is this software user friendly?

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

Appendix C. Mission Statements of PSCC and UT Seed Libraries

PSCC Mission Statement

The Pellissippi Seed Library intends to encourage healthy and sustainable

lifestyles, facilitate food access and community connections, and engage Pellissippi

students, staff, and faculty through experiential learning opportunities.

UT Mission Statement

In conjunction with UT’s mission, the UT Seed Library seeks to “move forward the

frontiers of human knowledge and enrich and elevate the citizens of the state of

Tennessee, the nation, and the world” (UT, n.d.) through engagement in

experiential learning—the focus of UT’s current Quality Enhancement Plan—and

empowering students to lead healthy sustainable lifestyles while facilitating food

access, community connections, and enhancement of the student experience.

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Appendix D, 1. Handout Summarizing the UT Seed Library Initiative

Dean and Mezick: An Examination of Seed Libraries

Published by CUNY Academic Works, 2020

Appendix D, 2. Handout Summarizing the UT Seed Library Initiative

Urban Library Journal, Vol. 26, Iss. 1 [2020], Art. 3

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