![]() People are eager to get their hands in the dirt, Carpenter reports. It’s kind of like that book The Martian…students learned how to grow crops indoors.”Ĭarpenter sees the garden, maintained by Urban Agriculture students, as a “laboratory for learning.” It also raises awareness about food insecurity on campus. Benrubi “created an online seed request form and sent easy to grow seeds, such as cilantro and basil, to students who were quarantining themselves. “During COVID, the Seed Library was a symbol of hope,” says Carpenter. “People were worried about going to grocery stores, but they could come to pick kale, tomatoes, and basil from in front of the library.”Ĭarpenter worked with Technical Services Librarian Debbie Benrubi and Reference Librarian Carol Spector to create a quarter-acre plot to support the seed library begun in 2017. We had tomato plants, and anyone could pick them,” says Novella Carpenter, program director for Urban Agriculture at USF. Once COVID-19 hit, “at first, we were freaked out and didn’t want to go on campus, but we did socially distanced summer gardening. The Gleeson Seed Library Demonstration Garden broke ground in 2020, months before the pandemic began. The community also came together to create a garden at the University of San Francisco’s (USF) Gleeson Library. It was exciting-even Melody Kellogg, the Oklahoma Department of Libraries director, came!” ![]() “Eighty-eight people came from a community of 3,500. ![]() “The ribbon-cutting we had on April 2 was the first event we’d had since the pandemic,” says branch manager Kathe Smith. The garden has captured a lot of attention in this community. It also planted a dozen fruit trees, which died during an unseasonal cold snap but will be replaced this summer. The library hosts virtual cooking classes and begins its story walk at the garden. Pamphlets on how to grow and store vegetables are available. Intergenerational teams work the land-a father and son, grandmothers and grandchildren. As gardeners tend their plots, passers-by stop, share ideas, and ask questions. The gardeners supply other plants and all tools.ĭesigned with the help of the McIntosh County Extension Agency, the Checotah garden has become an impromptu community forum. ![]() The library provides water, and gave each participant a tomato and a strawberry plant. No pesticides, dogs (except service animals), drugs, alcohol, or tobacco are allowed in the garden. Those assigned a plot are responsible for its upkeep, including weeding, keeping it free of trash, and ensuring that plantings remain in their designated space, unless the gardener is collaborating with the steward of another plot. With a $4,000 grant from the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the library created a 24圆0 foot garden with 16 plots for community members to use they drew 20 applications. The Jim Lucas Checotah Public Library, OK, opened its garden in April to help support the library’s health initiatives, addressing the county’s high incidence of physical inactivity, diabetes, and hypertension. GREENING UP A resident tends her plot at the Jim Lucas Checotah PL’s community garden. It makes sense that, in response to the global trauma of the pandemic, a new wave of library gardens is sprouting up across the United States. No matter how busy they are also peaceful. Now, gardens are not only places where patrons can interact publicly but safely. During the pandemic, libraries with outside spaces could provide socially distanced programming. Some focus on ecology, others on food production or aesthetics. In that sense, gardens are like libraries-and library gardens offer far more than attractive outdoor space. Library gardens help address food insecurity, ease environmental impact, provide stress relief, and serve as pandemic-safe space for community connectionĪ garden can be an expression of optimism: We plant seeds, hoping they will flourish learn humility when things go wrong and get comfortable with continual experimentation as part of an ongoing conversation with the land, community, and planet.
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