"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
-Marcus Tullius Cicero
The Garden
The Garland County Library Community Garden & Park provides an extra space in our community where people can gather in a beautiful, natural space and share their love of nature, gardening, and books.
The garden features 40 raised beds available for library patrons to "borrow" and tend on a seasonal basis. To borrow a bed, first read the FAQ, then click the "Borrow-A-Bed" button to place a raised bed on hold.
Garden FAQ
The garden is located along Banks Street, between the library's upper parking lot and the RIX Professional Building on Malvern Avenue.
The garden and park provides an area where our community can gather in a beautiful, natural space and share their love of nature, gardening, and books.
Sunrise to sunset, though some of the gardening equipment is put away shortly before the library closes at 6:00 PM.
There are forty-two (42) beds. Some are reserved for library programming; most are available for the public to check out.
The garden beds measure 2' wide by 8' long by 3' tall (2x8x3) giving patrons 48 cubic feet to work with.
A patron checking out a garden bed must be at least 18 years old or have the permission of a legal guardian, and have a Garland County Library card in good standing. Patrons must also fill out and sign an agreement form.
No, there is a limit of one (1) garden bed per patron.
Sure! Family and friends (including supervised children) are welcome to use and help care for the bed, however, the individual (adult) person who fills out the agreement is ultimately responsible for the garden bed.
Most fruitsm, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and other plants are allowed. Invasive, poisonous, perennial, or illegal plants are prohibited and will result in a loss of privileges.
The beds are full of dirt! Some communal tools may be provided on a first come, first served basis. These should be cleaned and left on the library property after use. There is also a water hookup available. Patrons are encouraged to survey the garden and beds and assess how they will make use of it and what tools they will need before planning their bed.
Patrons will have two (2) weeks from the day of checkout approval to show activity within their respective garden beds. Patrons will also have a two (2) week period at the end of their six-month checkout to remove any fruits, vegetables, plants, materials, tools, etc. from their garden bed.
Only natural pesticides and herbicides should be used.
Tobacco, drugs, alcohol, fire, and power tools are also not allowed for use in the garden and park.
A neglected, weedy, or unkempt garden bed may result in the loss of your bed. You will be contacted and offered one week to remediate the bed before loss of privileges. Users should also not touch, interfere with, or offer unsolicited help to other gardeners. Users should not attempt to move or alter their bed in any way.
Please email the Adult Services team at adultservices@gclibrary.com.