Seed library: a proposal that combines sustainability and dissemination of information in public libraries

• Autor(a) principal: Souza, Willian Eduardo Righini de
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Encontros Bibli
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/eb/article/view/1518-2924.2020.e66324
• topic: Biblioteca de sementes; Bibliotecas públicas; Serviços de informação; Sustentabilidade; Seed library; Public libraries; Information services; Sustainability

Objective: To present and discuss the creation of seed libraries in public libraries. When analyzing this service, it intends to contribute to the reflections on the role of the public library in contemporaneity. Methods: In its first part, the article performs a literature review to expose the conception of seed library available in the scarce works on the subject. Then, it develops a case study on the creation of a seed library in the library of a Brazilian educational institution. Results: It notes that seed libraries have expanded in countries such as the United States, but the discussion on this service is still incipient in Information Science. It exposes that these projects propose to make their users aware about healthy food and the preservation of the environment, besides providing information that subsidizes the management of the seeds offered. However, the lack of qualified professionals, adequate spaces and financial resources make it difficult to continue in public libraries. Conclusions: The seed library is inserted in the reflections about the existence of a dynamic public library rich in services, according to the wishes of its community. However, case studies reveal the challenges that some libraries need to overcome in order to be able to develop this type of initiative efficiently and without compromising existing services.