The Grant County Seed Library, once located at the Volunteer Center Commons, is now available at the Silver City Public Library. The seed library is a project sponsored by the Volunteer Center, High Desert Organic Gardeners, and the Silver City Food Co-op.

Seed libraries are shared community resources that are growing in popularity. Community members donate seeds from plants they have grown. Others borrow the seeds, plant them, then donate some seeds from their crop back to the seed library. The Grant County Seed Library began with packets of seeds from an organic seed company that gives them away at the end of each season. Now there are many locally-grown seeds available. "Seeds that are grown locally for three generations or more are the best. They begin to adapt to our climate and soil," explained Azima Forest, seed library manager. The seed library goal is two-fold: to encourage community members to grow food more, and to develop a source for healthy seeds that are well-adapted to our region.

"I arranged to house the seed library at the public library largely because more community members will see it and become familiar with the idea," explained Forest. "The seeds will be more accessible, any time that the public library is open."

"The public library is excited to make the seed library available to the community along with our other resources," said Lillian Galloway, programming and outreach librarian. "This fits our organization's vision: to be a gateway to the knowledge and information needed to sustain a healthy, thriving community."

The Silver City Public Library is located at 515 W. College Avenue, at the corner of College and Cooper Street in Silver City. Their hours are Monday-Thursday, 9:00am-6:00pm; Friday, 10:00am-5:00pm, and Saturday, 10:00am-2:00pm. For more information, contact the library at 575-538-3672 or ref@silvercitymail.com.