Did you know that — in addition to books — you can check out SEEDS from the library? Perhaps, as you’ve headed into the Starbucks at Hodges Library, you’ve seen the old-fashioned card catalog that houses packets for the Seed Library. Since 2019, the Seed Library has allowed members of the UT community to grow their own herbs, vegetables, flowers, and fruits. Now, almost three years later, the Seed Library has grown in popularity to such an extent that we have added a second location at the Pendergrass Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Library.

About the Seed Library

Regardless of whether you visit Hodges or Pendergrass, the process for checking out seeds from the UT Libraries is the same. All you have to do is choose your seed and fill out the brief checkout form. Don’t have any gardening equipment? Visit Pendergrass and check out our gardening kits, which come with two small trowels/shovels and one hand rake.  These kits loan for three days and can be accessed at the Public Services desk.

For more information regarding the Seed Library at Hodges and Pendergrass, visit the UT Libraries’ Seed Library guide. There, you can find a list of the seed offerings at both locations, suggested resources to help you start your garden, and more.

Seed Library Launch Party, September 7

We invite you to visit Pendergrass Library to celebrate the launch of the Seed Library on Wednesday, September 7, beginning at 2 p.m. Attendees will be provided a ceramic pot that they can decorate; next, they can plant heirloom seeds from the Seed Library. Festivities will continue until 6 p.m. or until supplies run out — whichever comes first.

Directions to Pendergrass

• At the intersection of River Drive and Joe Johnson Drive, by the Brehm Animal Science building, take the crosswalk onto River Drive.
• Past the construction of the Teaching and Learning Center, use the walkway between Pendergrass Library and the College of Veterinary Medicine. 
• Passing through the gate, the entrance to Pendergrass’s foyer will be on the left.

More detailed directions are available on the Teaching and Learning Center guide.