University of Illinois (Jane Addam's Hull-House)

The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum in Chicago, Illinois, will launch an heirloom seed library that will provide free, regionally adapted seeds to urban farmers. The seed library is dedicated to conserving the diversity of our planet's seed stock and fostering sustainable food systems and communities throughout the city. The project changes the way cultural institutions address the pressing issue of sustainability, making new connections between environmental diversity and cultural diversity. The public is invited to apply for a library card in order to "check out" seeds with the agreement that they grow them out and return some seeds of the next generation at the end of the season. The seed library will be a way to make a necessary resource accessible to a broad group of people, create a new community of urban farmers, and bridge those who grow for fun and those who must grow out of necessity.