Seed Library

Borrow, grow, return

The Los Alamos Community Seed Library has three locations where community members can borrow seeds. Both library branches—the Mesa Public Library and the White Rock Branch—house seed cabinets with full inventories of all available varieties. The Los Alamos Nature Center, operated by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC), maintains a smaller selection in an outdoor cabinet that is accessible for self-service around the clock.

The seed locations remain open year-round; however, the cabinets are restocked over the winter and officially launch for the spring growing season with fully stocked drawers at the beginning of March each year.

Community members can borrow up to 30 seed packages annually, either in multiple visits or all at once. A paper checkout sheet is maintained and kept at the preferred branch, and gardeners record their selections manually. The seed library is free and requires only a library card. In return, borrowers are encouraged to donate a portion of the seeds they successfully grow and harvest.

The Los Alamos Community Seed Library introduction:

On March 25, 2023, the first season of the Los Alamos County Seed Library was launched with a celebration at the Mesa Public Library. The seed library was the result of a unique collaboration between the Los Alamos Public Library, the Los Alamos County Extension Office and affiliated Master Gardeners program, the Los Alamos Historical Society, the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC), along with many local gardening enthusiasts. After the launch, the seed library has operated as a volunteer-run project hosted by the Los Alamos Library System and PEEC.

A seed library operates as a system for sharing, lending, and returning seeds. This concept should not be confused with a seed bank, which focuses on preserving genetic biodiversity and protecting plant species. Rather, the goal of a seed library is to provide free seeds to local gardeners, who will grow plants, harvest seeds, and return a portion to the library. This cycle helps preserve and adapt plant varieties through continued propagation and sharing.

The Los Alamos Seed Library also offers educational opportunities through free gardening programs regularly hosted by the Los Alamos Library System and the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC).

The Los Alamos Community Seed Library mission and three guiding principles:

Los Alamos Community Seed Library cultivates a community culture of life-long learning and sharing through seed stewardship:

• Learn – we connect community gardeners from beginner to expert with resources, information, and programs about growing, harvesting, and saving seeds that tie us to local history, land, and culture.

• Save – we support seed stewardship through the saving and exchanging of locally adapted, regional, and heirloom seeds that contribute to local biodiversity.

• Share – we aim to establish and grow an accessible and sustainable source of seeds supplied by and for the community through exchange, donations, and lending.

How to Donate Seeds

The seed library relies on donations, and we gladly accept all seeds, including unopened commercial seed packets.

However, we especially encourage donations of locally grown and harvested seeds. These help us build a reliable supply of seeds adapted to our community’s growing conditions.

Donation boxes are located on the sides of the seed cabinets, with one cabinet available at each branch. This means you can donate seeds at either location. Inside each donation box, you'll find labels to record details about your seeds—please provide as much information as possible.

To preserve seed quality, we ask that donations be placed in paper bags rather than plastic ones, as plastic traps moisture and can cause seeds to rot. Paper bags are available in the donation boxes, but brown lunch bags also work well. Seed donations are accepted year-round. 

Once donated, our seed library volunteers carefully sort, clean, and package the seeds into individual packets designed to fit the cabinet drawers.

Seed Library Resources

Both White Rock Branch Library and Mesa Public Library have inventory lists at the Seed Library cabinets. Seeds are prepared by stewards of the Los Alamos Community Seed Library and added to the Seed Library cabinets on a regular basis. The inventories are updated periodically, though it can be that the inventory list is not perfectly reflective of the quantities or varieties available at any moment in time. The inventory list contains a key to indicate those seeds that will support pollinators, and those seeds that are native to our region of northern New Mexico.

Los Alamos and White Rock Vegetable Planting Guide

Access New Mexico State University's planting guides for Los Alamos town and White Rock. These charts from NMSU will help you in decide when to plant vegetables for the regions across New Mexico. Refer to New Mexico AREA 2 for growing in White Rock, and to New Mexico AREA 3 for growing in Los Alamos. Adjustments can be made to these recommendations based on the specific microclimates of your garden space.

Recent articles shared by the Seed Library stewards

Save Your Seeds!, by Catherine Hensley

Small Space Gardening, by KokHeong McNaughton

Companion Planting, by KokHeong McNaughton

Community Resources

Pajarito Environmental Education Center partners with the Los Alamos Public Library to offer the Seed Library to our community. PEEC is also host to the Los Alamos Bee City resources.

New Mexico State University's Los Alamos Extension is home of the Master Gardener program. NMSU also offers many resources that are free to the community such as growing guides and soil resources.

The Los Alamos Farmer's Market hosts local farmers and producers of all kinds from northern New Mexico. Some of the farmers of produce at the market have collaborated to support the Seed Library with growing resources, guided farm tours, and donations of seeds.