Seed Lending Library

Welcome to the UBC Seed Lending Library! We are open to everyone, and  we're located in three locations; the Education Library, Woodward Library, and X̱wi7x̱wa Library on the Vancouver campus. The Seed Lending Library allows anyone to "borrow" seeds free of charge, and provides opportunities to learn about gardening, seed saving, and agricultural research and teaching at UBC.

Thank you to our partner, UBC Farm, for their support of the UBC Seed Lending Library!

Our seeds come from borrowers who kindly return seeds at the end of the growing season as well as donations from the UBC Farm and West Coast Seeds, and a UTown@UBC grant which helped us to purchase seeds from the BC Eco Seeds Co-op.

Contact us at: seed.library@ubc.ca

Like traditional library services, a seed library provides access to a resource. Patrons are able to borrow seeds for their own garden! A seed library is a collection of seeds that can be "borrowed" with the goal of contributing to learning, experimentation, and community. As users learn about seed saving, they return the seeds from their crops for others to use. 

When you grow and save seeds, you:

• Develop seed stock that is well suited to local growing conditions
• Preserve heritage and biodiversity
• Save money by growing your own food from the seeds you save
• Contribute to a community effort to preserve and use local seed varieties growing and sharing seeds
• Learn about seeds and seed saving
• Create a culture of sustainability and self-reliance in your community

• UBC Cultivates Community with Seed Libraries, by Danauca Dory, the Langara Voice (March 12, 2020)
• UBC Seed Lending Library is building a budding community, by Michelle Blackwell, UBC Library (October 3, 2019)
• Seed-lending library a resource for beginner and expert gardeners alike, by Meriwether Morris, the Ubyssey (November 12, 2019)