ROCHELLE — In an effort to educate the community about the rewards of gardening and seed saving, the Flagg-Rochelle Public Library has established a new seed library. The seed library was established in conjunction with the Ogle County Master Gardeners program of the University of Illinois Extension. 

A seed library collects, stores and shares seeds with members of the community for free. To borrow seeds, area residents can visit the seed library next to the non-fiction section in the Flagg-Rochelle Public Library, choose 8-10 packets of seeds per fall and spring growing season, and write down choices in the seed check out list. 

The plan is for the seed library to grow when participants donate back the seeds that they yield following planting and harvest. The library and the Ogle County Master Gardeners will offer seed saving workshops throughout the year. You do not need a library card to check out seeds or to attend any gardening programs. 

“It's a wonderful way to share gardening and growing with all age groups and I think it's exciting to see, when you can do educational programs and also share the seeds,” Ogle County Master Gardener Sarah Chisamore said. “Seeds are so important. I saw it in a magazine and thought it'd be fun to do locally. Luckily the library was on board and so encouraging.”

The library will host a seed library kick off event on Saturday, Jan. 27 from 2-4 p.m. that will include information on the seed library and how to use it, a seed swap, discussion on the dos and don’ts of winter sowing and planting winter greenhouses to take home, a seed bomb workshop, and germination tests of seeds.

The seed library is housed in a repurposed library card catalog and divided into four seed categories: herbs, flowers, native plants and vegetables. Each seed packet is alphabetized by common name within their categories. 

“We're super excited,” Library Director Sarah Flanagan said. “We really want to get more involved with the community and this is a great way to educate kids and get everybody in the community involved. Even if you don't have a library card, you can still come in and do this and see what we have to offer. It's a wonderful partnership with the master gardeners, 4-H and the Extension Office. We want the library to be a community place. A lot of our students don't have the opportunity to grow fresh fruits or vegetables, just because of their living situation. This gives them an opportunity to see where their food comes from and eat something a little bit healthier.”

Seeds were donated to the program by Walmart, Ace Hardware, bbbseed, West Coast Seeds and Victory Seed Company.

Library Outreach Clerk Ashley Capes said the library is also working with an Ogle County 4-H group to start a spin club where kids will come to the library starting in February to plant their own gardens, which will start out inside and eventually be placed outside the library. Those vegetables will be grown and eventually taken to the 4-H fair. 

Capes said she’s excited for the future of the seed library program and what it can do for area youth.

“Gardening can be expensive and space can be an issue,” Capes said. “But this is free and you can grow things in containers. We want to eventually offer gardening tools and containers for people to use to have a chance to grow something, no matter where they live. When my son was little, he wouldn't eat vegetables until we started growing them ourselves. He was fascinated by the process.”

Upcoming gardening and seed saving programs can be found at the www.rochellepubliclibrary.org or on its Facebook page at Flagg-Rochelle Public Library. Email a master gardener from April 1-Sept. 30 at uiemg-ogle@illinois.edu.

“I think it's a really popular thing after the pandemic,” Chisamore said. “So many people seem really excited about gardening. They say the interest in gardening has really skyrocketed. I think we're doing it at the right place at the right time.”