Thousands of people attend the book sales hosted by the Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library every May and October, and its facility in Ithaca’s West End is within bicycling distance of many residents. But visitors have long had to insecurely chain their bikes to nearby fences, signposts, or trees. In March 2016, Sustainable Tompkins awarded the organization a Neighborhood Mini-Grant for buying bike racks.

Six racks were installed over the summer, largely by volunteers. They were constantly full during the October sale, and used in all seasons by the volunteers planning the sales and donors dropping off items to sell. Facilitating fossil-fuel-free transportation and exercise, making bicyclists feel welcome at the sales — which support literacy programs along with the local and regional libraries —  and protecting the trees whose bark had been regularly damaged by bike chains, they will continue to bring benefits near and far.

The Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program provides seed money to diverse initiatives to build environmental, economic, and social resilience and well-being in Tompkins County. In turn, we need your support! Please donate today and help us support more wonderful citizen-driven projects to improve life in our community.