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Gardener's Resource Center
The Gardener's Resource Center provides reference services to home gardeners, staff, and the professional horticultural community. It is a convenient access point from which to learn more about all of the Library's collections and about the Garden's plant collections. The Gardener's Resource Center is located on the second floor of the historic McKim, Mead & White Administration Building.
Walk-in Hours
April - October
10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and 1:30–4:30 p.m., Tuesday–Friday
1:30–4:30 p.m., Saturday
November - March
10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and 1:30–4:30 p.m., Tuesday–Friday
The Collections
Collections in both the Gardener's Resource Center and Science Library circulate to members.
Books and Serials
The collection consists of over 4,000 books and CD-ROMs and some 200 current serials of general interest encompassing botany, ecology and plant conservation, horticulture, gardening, landscape history, and garden design. Bibliographic records for this collection are available through LINNAEUS, the Library's online catalog.
Vertical Files
The vertical files consist of pamphlets, clippings, photocopies, and other ephemera on over 2,000 subjects related to botany and plant culture.
Nursery and Seed Catalogs
The Gardener's Resource Center maintains a collection of catalogs from over 1,000 suppliers. In addition to current catalogs, there is a small collection of historical catalogs dating to the early part of the 20th century.
Plant Collections Database and Online Search Services
Brooklyn Botanic Garden's plant collections database can be searched at public computer terminals in the Gardener's Resource Center. The Library also provides access to the Andersen Horticultural Library's Plant Information Online and to Online Computer Library Center's FirstSearch reference service.
Gardener's Help Line
Call the Gardener's Help Line at 718-623-7270. Staff will answer gardeners' questions by phone from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tuesday through Friday.
To expedite calls, the Help Line staff suggests the following:
- Keep your question as straightforward as possible.
- Identify your question category: pests and diseases, culture and propagation, plant identification, etc.
- Identify the class of plant: tree, shrub, perennial, annual, etc.
- Be prepared with a description of the problem. If you're concerned about an insect, for example, note the appearance of the pest and where you have seen it (on leaves, stems, in the soil), as well as the damage it is doing.
- If you call during the hours listed above and get a recording, it means that we are currently busy helping other customers. Please call us back, or, if convenient, contact us by e-mail.