By TOM KNAPP | Staff WriterThe state Department of Agriculture is cracking down on public seed libraries.
The concept of a seed library — a seed-gardening initiative that allows patrons to “borrow” seeds for planting and replace them with new seeds harvested at the end of the growing season — has not yet caught on in Lancaster County.
The Lancaster Public Library has “been considering it for some time,” Heather Sharpe, spokeswoman for the Duke Street library, said Monday, but hasn’t implemented the idea.
Mary Ann Heltshe-Steinhauer, community relations director for the Library System of Lancaster County, said she’s unaware of any such enterprises at any of the county’s other libraries.
But the Cumberland County Library System launched a pilot program in April at Mechanicsburg’s Joseph T. Simpson Public Library, in cooperation with its local Penn State Ag Extension office.
In July, the Department of Agriculture told them to shut it down, according to an article posted July 31 by the Carlisle Sentinel.
The library, according to a letter from Harrisburg, violates the 2004 Seed Act, The Sentinel reports.
According to the article, the Seed Act focuses primarily on seeds that are sold, not “loaned.” However, there is also concern for seeds that are mislabeled (purposefully or accidentally), the growth of invasive plant species, cross-pollination and poisonous plants, the article states.
“The department told the library it could not have the seed library unless its staff tested each seed packet for germination and other information,” The Sentinel reports. A library spokesman said that was not something the staff could handle.
The department indicated it would continue to crack down on seed libraries that have established themselves elsewhere in the state.
