Written by: Adam Chodak, 9NEWS Northern Reporter
FORT COLLINS . Earlier this month, Fort Collins opened up a different type of library. Instead of handing out books, it hands out bikes.
To take out a bike, you just have to be a member – and membership is free.
Given the popularity of bikes in Fort Collins, the city’s new bike library has proven to be an instant success.
“It’s kind of like going to a convention of ice cream enthusiasts and then saying you’re going to hand out free Ben and Jerry’s,” said Chris Pranskatis, manager of the Fort Collins Bike Library.
Within minutes of opening Friday morning, the library was out of bikes.
Pranskatis says hundreds more that have been donated are being fixed up and will bolster his fleet soon.
Funding rode in on a federal grant aimed at lowering the amount of traffic rolling through Fort Collins.
The project was created by FC Bikes, Bike Fort Collins and Fort Collins Bike Co-Op.
Outside of getting cars off the road, the library’s purpose is to promote a healthy lifestyle.
“This kind of system is totally what this town is all about,” said Erin Friedline, a Fort Collins resident who rented a bike with her friends Friday morning.
Like a library with books, the bike library will send out a bill to those who don’t return the bikes. Of course, instead of $30, the bill will run about $300.
For more information go to www.fcbikelibrary.org.
