About the Collection

The mission of the Somerville Seed Library is to empower local residents to preserve the art of growing our own food through the lending, sharing, and saving of seeds, and related programming at the library.

The Somerville Seed Library can be found at each of our three Library locations:

• Central Library - 79 Highland Ave
• West Branch - 40 College Ave
• East Branch - 115 Broadway

The seed library will be available while supplies last. Once seeds are gone, they will not be restocked until the next season. Please take this into account when making your selection.

Upcoming programs related to our Seed Library:

• Seed Packing Party! on 2/10 at the West Branch

• Seed Packing Party! on 2/15 at the Central Library

• Starting Seeds How-To on 3/24 at the West Branch

What is a Seed Library?

A seed library collects and stores seeds and shares them with members of the community for free. Seeds may be from regional seed companies, donated from gardeners who have grown locally adapted varieties of edibles, or wildflowers that serve as nectar and host plants for pollinators.

Seed libraries can encourage biodiversity, reduce our reliance on grocery stores, and decrease our reliance on major seed companies. This helps combat seed monocultures which threaten the world's food supply.

How it Works

The seed library will have labeled packets of seeds. Patrons may take up to 5 seed packets per household per season.

Grow seeds in your yard, on your deck, on a windowsill, or anywhere else you get sunlight! At the end of the growing season, gardeners return some of their seeds to the library.

Please note that we cannot guarantee that seeds will germinate or are properly labeled.

Our 2025 Inventory

Coming soon!

Helpful Resources

• When to Plant Calendar
• Indoor Seed Starting 101
• Seed Savers: Starting Seeds
• Seed Saving: Where to Start
• Ten Seeds to Save Yourself this Season

Contact Kerry at keodonnell@somervillema.gov with any questions!