More Students Switching to Bikes

Whether to save money on gas or be more environmentally friendly, many students in high school and college are moving toward using bikes instead of cars. Many schools are moving toward initiatives to encourage this bike movement. Examples: Ripon College (WI) is offering first year students FREE mountatin bikes, helmet and lock if they sign a pledge not to bring a car to campus for the entire school year.   Emory University has a complete Web site called Bike Emory listing events, a cyclopedia, bike resources, maps, etc. but best of all Emery offers several on campus bike repair shops, deep discounts on bike purchases, and a bike share program for all eligible students/staff to bike around campus free! Colleges in other states such as Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Maine and Pennsylvania are now offering bike-loan programs.

For librarians: if your college (or high school) does not have such initiatives think about getting involved to make it happen;  if they do, try to get involved to show the library’s support; make sure you have a bike rack outside the library; encourage your own staff and students to participate (incentives?);  try a display of bike related resources in the library; highlight your e-resources which students can access remotely, w/o having to drive or bike to campus as all. I’m sure there are lots of other ideas – please suggest/comment!