Your pal the library does so much for you, from helping with your taxes to making you reading lists to giving you internet, and it never really asks much in return. Well, it asks you to return things on time, but that’s fair. In this one instance though, it’s asking you to help it out, but the good thing is you can have fun doing it. Bike the Branches, the tour/competition to see who can get to the most libraries in a day, is back for the third year on May 9, and you can register for it today. We think you should.
The concept behind Bike the Branches is pretty simple. You pay to register for it (it’s just $20) and get a passport that’s stamped at each library you visit. You could visit them in whatever order you like, but the library, as always a trusty pal, arranged some tours to guide you also. The tours range from a short, Citi Bike-based tour to much longer rides that take you along the waterfront, through Brooklyn’s changing faces over the decades and one that brings you to physical locations behind Brooklyn literary history, all of which are over 30 miles.
Ever want to go gawk at Isaac Asimov’s old address and have it mean something? You can if you register and then do the Literary Brooklyn Tour. It all means something because all of the money raised from registration goes towards the Brooklyn library system, which as we’re always saying, doesn’t get nearly enough budget love and could use a hand. Of course, if riding a bike for the sake of enjoying the weather (and helping the library) isn’t enough, there are also prizes for the three people who visit the most libraries. You love prizes!