Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Today, we’re headed to sunny Los Angeles, where a new crop of curbside libraries has sprouted over the last few years. But instead of books, these libraries are full of seeds — and they’re helping communities reconnect with nature after last year’s wildfires.
Possibly reporter Janek Schaller, who’s based in Southern California, drove out to see one of them in person.
Janek Schaller: There’s a wooden box perched on a pole in front of Nina Raj’s home in Altadena, California. Without taking a closer look, you might assume that it’s just another one of those little free libraries that have cropped up on many suburban curbsides. But anyone hoping to find a good read inside is in for a surprise.
Nina Raj: We’ve got bush sunflower, we’ve got showy milkweed. We’ve got Yarrow, California Poppy, some buckwheat. This is cool. This is from the Ohlone farm.
Janek Schaller: Nina is a trained naturalist and educator, and grew up in a handful of different neighborhoods across LA. Over the years, she’s built up a sizable collection of seeds, many gathered from her work with gardens and environmental organizations around the city. When she settled down in Altadena in 2020, Nina decided that it was time to spread the wealth.
Nina Raj: My neighbor has a little free book library, and it inspired me to just build my own little library that I put out in front of my house and share seeds.
Janek Schaller: Before long, Nina began partnering with other environmental organizations, community members, and even public schools to establish new libraries in neighborhoods throughout LA. Each so-called “outpost” is stocked with seeds that community members had donated.
Nina Raj: These are from people’s gardens. They might be edible seeds. They might be, you know, native plants that they planted in their yards or at community gardens.
Janek Schaller: There are now 17 libraries throughout LA, and there are more outposts in places as far away as Sonoma County in Northern California and even New York City. Nina says people often don’t realize how spread out the library system really is.
Nina Raj: There are just so many different outposts and each one is totally unique.
Janek Schaller: Unlike a seed bank, whose purpose is to preserve a carefully-constructed inventory of an ecosystem, Nina says that seed libraries are much more fluid. They represent the identity and needs of a specific community, which can vary from place to place, and can change over time, too. For instance,
Nina Raj: Up here in Altadena, we’re really focused on more phytoremediator seeds.
Janek Schaller: That scrabble word was phytoremediator — it refers to plants that have the power to clean up the soil that they’re rooted in. Much of the ground in Altadena is still contaminated with toxic chemicals from homes that burned during the wildfires that engulfed the city in January of 2025.
Janek Schaller: Nina has been planting these seeds to absorb some of that pollution in her own neighborhood. But, she says, her neighbors come to the library to find all sorts of plants.
Nina Raj: As I see what comes in and out of the library in front of my house, it helps me understand kind of what people are excited about, what they want.
Janek Schaller: And Nina is already building on this excitement. She’s actually just finished a new design for the outposts — she’s replacing the glass doors with wooden ones so the seeds can stay cool and out of the light.
Janek Schaller: You’re trusting folks to know that this enclosed box contains what they want it to contain.
Nina Raj: It’ll say “Altadena Seed Library” on the front, and it’ll say, “Take what you need, leave what you can.” So hopefully that’ll be inviting enough. We’ll find out.
Megan Hall: That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the ways your choices affect our planet, at ask possibly dot org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on social media at “ask possibly.”
Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, Ocean State Media and WBRU.
