This is a pilot program and will be offered at the CCPL’s main branch, located at 201 S. Fountain Ave. This is part of the CCPL’s newly established Library of Things program, which offers fun, useful and unexpected items that go beyond the usual materials libraries offer such as books, videos and music.
Kevin Clark, CCPL reference manager, and reference librarian Jerry Reed noticed other libraries were doing bike share programs, so they approached Ashley Maksvytis, a health planner with CCCHD, to partner. She secured funding from a Creating Healthy Communities grant from the Ohio Department of Health.
“It’s been a nice partnership. We’re hoping this will lead to more active living,” said Clark.
Maksvytis thought it would be beneficial in response to community health assessments done every three years to prevent chronic disease. The 2024 assessment found Clark County had a 5 percent higher obesity rate than the Ohio average and was up 10 points from 2018, some of which Maksvytis said stems from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. We hope this can be an incentive to get people out of their homes if they don’t have a bike and use one of the many trails in our area,” she said.
The organizations reached out to Cyclotherapy, a downtown Springfield bicycle shop, and acquired six urban bikes. Rather than older-style 10-speed bikes, these are seven-speed, sturdy bikes with wider tires, which Clark said are not overly complicated and are safe to ride.
The bikes can be checked out directly from the library’s reference desk. Clark stresses this is currently only for adults, but if the pilot program is successful, the library may expand to offer children’s bikes at some point.
“It would be great if all six are checked out or at least two a day,” said Clark.
Some of the bikes have baskets users can put items in if they shop or just want to take a ride around. Patrons will be required to check out a bicycle helmet in addition to the bike unless they present their own bike helmet on checkout.
Bikes cannot be reserved ahead or renewed, but they can be checked out each day the library is open. The bikes are to be returned an hour before the library closes each day. Main branch hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays; and 1-5 p.m. Sundays.
Clark said the program will likely run toward the end of October. Those who borrow the bikes will be requested to complete a CCCHD survey after each use to help data going forward to improve the program.
“We hope people will show up, enjoy the bikes and turn in their surveys to the Health District so we can do a year two,” Clark said.
For more information, go to www.ccplohio.org/ and go to the Library of Things section.
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