Bicycling Everywhere (in the Central Library)

There have been a lot of blogs about biking, I know, I know. But I hope this one is a little different. It’s about how books on a topic can turn up anywhere. Let’s start at the top of the Central Library and work our way down.

Way up on the 9th floor (History, Travel and Maps department), there are biographies about bicyclists, bicycling travel diaries and memoirs, and books about bicycling in the National Parks. And this one about 1890’s women’s lives, social mores, and the history of bicycling, to boot:

Around the World on Two Wheels by Peter Zheutlin

Traveling down to the 8th floor (Arts, Recreation and Literature department), you can find plenty of touring and recreational titles, such as:

Mountain Biking Washington: A Guide to Washington State’s Greatest Off-Road Bicycle Rides by Amy Poffenbarger

Books about bicycle repair and maintenance and bike transportation planning can be found on the 7th floor (Business, Science and Technology department), where I work. For instance:

Bicycling Magazine’s Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair for Road and Mountain Bikes: Over 1,000 Tips, Tricks, and Techniques to Maximize Performance, Minimize Repairs, and Save Money by Jim Langley

“Down” on the 6th floor, where new magazines are, there are actually four different titles on bikes and biking: Bicycle Paper, Mountain Bike Action, Bicycle Quarterly, and Bicycling.

And then, jumping down a few floors to the 3rd floor (Reader Services) there are even fiction books with biking as a theme, like this suspense mystery:

Until It’s Over by Nicci French

On the same floor, near the Youth Services’ Teen Desk, you can find Young Adult books like Shift by Jennifer Bradbury, about two friends going on a bike trip and only one coming back.

And last, but certainly not least (and my personal favorites), are fun and delightful children’s books (1st floor) about bikes and bicycling, like Tillie the Terrible Swede: How One Woman, a Sewing Needle, and a Bicycle Changed History by Sue Stauffacher. Tillie becomes the women’s bicycle riding champion of the world.

But what I really wanted to tell you about is a bicycling display on the 7th floor for the month of August. It features bicycle maps of Seattle, King County, and various other places. There are informational pieces as well as a varied collection of bicycle books– from everywhere in the library–that you are very welcome to check out.

There are many non-bicycling books to be read as well. Come on up to floor 7, 8, or 9 and find some on a topic you are interested in, like, for instance, fashion. You can also enter the Adult Summer Reading Program on these upper floors.

~Mike B., Reference, Central Library