LYNNFIELD – The Lynnfield Public Library has unveiled one of its newest programs at a ribbon-cutting ceremony recently — a new seed library where members of the community can take seeds from the library to plant in their own gardens, and then donate seeds they’ve grown back to the community.

Faith Honer-Coakley, a member of the Library Board of Trustees, speaking at the ceremony, said that while the town’s program is new, the seed library on a national scale is not. For example, a seed library called BASIL in Berkeley, Calif., started in 1999. 

“So we’re slow to come to this game, but this will be a wonderful thing for the community,” Honer-Coakley said. 

Honer-Coakley said the town wants to encourage people to grow their own food and flowers and adopt gardening practices that are environmentally sustainable.

“The best food sustains us,” Honer-Coakley said. “But the beauty of flowers does something for us. So we want to encourage people to save seeds for plants that preserve genetic diversity and are locally adaptive in that they respond to our current climate conditions.”

Lynnfield Public Library Director Abby Porter also said that the library is always trying to make sure it is doing is what the public wants.

“We just did our strategic planning survey,” Porter said. “And a lot of people said they’d love to see a seed library.”

Porter also said that because Lynnfield Public Library is a “climate hub” for a group called “Communities Responding to Extreme Weather” (CREW), it is always looking for programs to help educate people about climate and the effects of climate change.

“Basically, we provide education on climate through a number of pamphlets and programs about climate- — a couple a year,” Porter said. “We usually try and do something for Climate Preparedness Week, which is in September, and just try to educate people.” 

“I think libraries are information centers,” Porter said. “We’re here to provide community centers, but we’re here to provide the information that people want or need, in whatever way we can.”

If you have an idea for a library program like the seed library, you can go to the “Suggest a Library Program Page” at the Lynnfield Public Library website.