Borrowing seeds from Madison Public Library is free and easy!
- Visit participating libraries to pick up seeds.
- Grow your plants and enjoy the harvest.
- After harvest, collect and share seeds with neighbors if you'd like!
By participating in the seed library you are helping to create a culture of sharing and community. Saving seeds leads to a sustainable future for your community and your garden.
Participating Libraries
- Alicia Ashman Library
- Goodman South Library
- Hawthorne Library
- Lakeview Library
- Meadowridge Library
- Monroe Street Library
- Pinney Library
- Sequoya Library
How do I get seeds?
Visit participating libraries to pick up seeds. No library card is needed and there's no limit to the number of seed packets you can request. Please note, just like with our books, there are a limited number of seeds in the collection.
We've created some helpful book lists to use alongside your seeds, as a way to learn more about a variety of topics related to different kinds of gardening. You can download and print the booklists or peruse them digitally and place holds using LINKcat.
Download Gardening Book List for Adults
Download Gardening Book List for Kids
Winter Seed Library
Madison Public Library's Seed Library will be launching its collection of native Wisconsin plant seeds on Monday, January 13, 2025. Thanks to the help of dozens of volunteers, we have thousands of packets of seeds to give away! Getting seeds is free and easy: simply visit one of our eight participating seed libraries to pick up seed packets while supplies last.
This winter, Dane County Land & Water Resources Department donated a limited number of native plant seeds collected by Dane County Parks volunteers. You can choose from nine types of seed:
- Black-eyed Susan
- Wild Bergamot
- Butterfly Weed
- Rattlesnake Master
- Little Bluestem
- Smooth Blue Aster
- Golden Alexander
- Bottlebrush Grass
- Native Garden Mix (containing all of the above species)
Why native plants?
“Native plants are adapted to the local climate and soils, are drought tolerant, disease resistant, and have deep root systems that help infiltrate rain water. Once established, native plants are aesthetically pleasing and require little watering, fertilizing and mowing … They also provide important ecosystem services such as improved water quality and habitat and food for local wildlife, including numerous pollinator species.”
(Dane County Land & Water Resources Department)
Native Wisconsin plant seeds are best sown in fall to midwinter, and left to overwinter.
- [Download] Guide to Sowing Native Seeds Over Winter
Spring Seed Library
The seed library offers a variety of vegetable, herb, fruit, and flower seeds from March through September, while supplies last. Thanks to the help of many volunteers, we package more than 20,000 packets of seeds to give away each Spring. Each packet contains 10-15 seeds apiece and can be put to use in your garden at home or in a community garden plot around town. | Vegetables | Herbs | Flowers | Fruit & Miscellaneous |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bean (shell & dry) | Basil | Cosmos | Canteloupe |
| Beet | Chamomile | Marigold | Cat Grass |
| Corn | Chives | Nasturtium | Catnip |
| Cucumber | Garlic Chives | Pansy | Gourd |
| Kale | Dill | Sunflower | Luffa |
| Lettuce | Cilantro | Zinnia | Watermelon |
| Pea | Oregano | ||
| Peppers (bell & hot) | Parsley | ||
| Pumpkin | Rosemary | ||
| Radish (red & daikon) | Sage | ||
| Shallot | |||
| Soybean | |||
| Spinach | |||
| Squash | |||
| Tomatillo | |||
| Tomato (cherry, paste & slicer) | |||
| Zucchini |
And more! A local farm, Wonka's Harvest, generously donated a lot of seeds to us this spring that have aged out of commercial use but are still viable for home gardeners. We received many species in varying volumes, so each location received a different distribution of donated seeds. These varieties are not included in the list above, but additional species that folks might find at their library location include: broccoli, cabbage, carrot, scallions, parsnip, nigella, asian greens, turnip, centaurea, leeks, onions, micro greens, radicchio, arugula, cauliflower, sorrel, and endive.
Note: Not all of these seeds will be available at all seed libraries.
Funding
Madison Public Library's Seed Library began as a larger project called the Dane County Seed Library, which was started in 2014 with a $5,000 grant provided by the John A. Johnson Fund and an anonymous donor through the Madison Community Foundation. The Seed Library is currently funded by multiple sources, including the Friends of Madison Public Library and Madison Public Library Foundation.