Members of a seed library meet in Arizona.

When librarians at the Joseph T. Simpson Library in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania organized a seed library to celebrate Earth Day, they didn’t expect to be breaking a law. But the librarians were contacted by Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture officials who said they were violating Pennsylvania’s 2004 Seed Act, which regulates the sale and distribution of seeds.

The Pennsylvania Seed Act states it is unlawful to sell or offer for sale seeds that have not been tested to determine the percentage of germination; contain prohibited noxious weeds; are not properly labeled; or have been advertised in a misleading manner.

As it turns out, that law applies to both commercial agricultural enterprises and to libraries with seed sharing programs alike. But according to Sharable, activists are fighting back:

In response…seed libraries around the country started mobilizing to address what they see as government overreach. And, they’re already having some success. In Duluth, Minnesota, the city council unanimously voted for a resolution supporting seed sharing in the city. The matter was taken up by state senator Roger Reinert who recently introduced a bill to the state senate recommending changes to the seed law. The Nebraska legislature is also taking up the issue this session.

Seed activists in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and several other states are also working on Save Seed Sharing campaigns. The focus of these campaigns is to legally separate seed sharing from commercial seed distribution and exempt seed sharing platforms, including seed libraries, from the state seed law.

The Simpson Library issues was resolved when the state and the librarians came to an agreement that the library would only accept currently labeled seed packages rather than collecting, organizing and packaging seeds in a catalog. Individual seed exchanges could also take place at the library.

According to an Associated Press article by Scott McFetridge, seed libraries are becoming more and more popular around the country: “Seed exchanges have sprouted up in about 300 locations around the country, most often in libraries, where gardeners can exchange self-pollinating seeds rather than buy standard, hybrid seeds.”