Healdsburg Library acquires BiblioBike to bring the library outside to patrons
The Healdsburg Library has a new way of bringing the library outside to residents across the community. With help from the Friends of the Healdsburg Library, the library now has a BiblioBike, an electric pedal assist tricycle with a big blue cabinet attached to the bike that can be loaded up with books.
“It’s been something that I have wanted for many years. Jon (Haupt) and I have been talking about it for several years. We asked for it a couple years back and the administration told us to wait until after we had a refresh, which was going to be during the pandemic,” said Healdsburg children’s librarian Charity Anderson.
She said Healdsburg Library Branch Manager Jon Haupt kept encouraging the library to acquire the book bike and he ended up writing the proposal for the bike.
The library then asked the Friends of the Healdsburg Library — which supports the Healdsburg library with donations and proceeds from book sales — for funds for the bike.
The library ordered the bike in September 2020 and only just recently received it from the manufacturer in Pennsylvania. Hayley Tricycles, the company that built the bike, specializes in tricycles for libraries. Once it arrived, Spoke Folk Cyclery assembled the bike.
“During the pandemic we were feeling disenchanted, not about the bike, but just in general,” Haupt said.
The BiblioBike provides more opportunities for the library’s storytime program. During the pandemic, the library was unable to hold its popular storytimes and it was a challenge figuring out how to bring story time to kids.
Not only did the library start offering Zoom storytimes, but they also started doing storytimes in the park. With the BiblioBike, they can easily bring storytime outdoors and to places across Healdsburg.
“We started thinking, ‘Before we are able to do events indoors, we’ll probably be able to do them outdoors and wouldn’t it be great if we had that bike so we can take it to events and go to outreach?’” Haupt said.
Anderson said the bike will be decked out with all of the library’s branding and it will sport other library decals as well.
“We’ll be able to meet the community where they are at outside,” Anderson said. “The main purpose is outreach in general. We can show up at Healdsburg music on Tuesday nights, we can go to the farmers market, we can go to senior living centers, we can go to preschools, we can go to schools, etc.”
Haupt said they may also hold pop-up BiblioBike events.
The bike is equipped with fold out shelves and can carry a WiFi hotspot and audiovisual equipment for public programming, such as the popular storytime in the park program. From the bike library patrons can also check out books and even get a library card.
The bike will have an umbrella attachment so during the hot summer months they can have a bit of shade when operating the bike.
Anderson said the BiblioBike may be new to Healdsburg, but the concept has been around for a while. In 2015, the San Francisco Library rolled out its own book bike called the Spoke & Word. Public libraries in Los Angeles County also have book bike programs.
Once the librarians get comfortable with riding the bike around town, people will start seeing the BiblioBike throughout the community.
“It is a learning curve,” Anderson said about riding the bike.
The library also recently acquired a BiblioBus, a van that will serve as another mobile library. The van was purchased with tax dollars from Measure Y, a one-eighth of a cent, county-wide sales tax that supports the county’s public library system.
“The first public event (we did) was Día de los Muertos,” Haupt said of the BiblioBus.
The bus will have WiFi and people will be able to check out books and get or replace a library card. Like the bike, the bus will be used for storytimes and other literacy programs.
