New HLS Read & Ride BikeShare program launches

This fall, the Harvard Law School Green Living Program and Harvard Law School Library teamed up to launch Read & Ride BikeShare, a new program that provides free short- and long-term bike loans to all HLS community members. The bike-share kickoff event was hosted Sept. 23 at Langdell Library’s Love Your Library Fest.

The program was dreamed up by library staff looking for a way to help their FRIDA (document delivery) assistants get around more easily. The employees decided bikes could help the assistants could make their delivery trips more efficiently, helping to reduce faculty wait time for requested resources. During the course of brainstorming, they realized they could use existing Hollis library check-out technology to loan out bikes the same way they loan out books, and decided to expand the vision to include all HLS community members.

As Harvard Law School Library Circulation Supervisor Derek Curtis explains, “the idea was pretty obviously a win for our patrons: Not all students have bikes or the money to purchase a bike, and this program would allow more students and patrons in general the chance to explore Boston on a handy & free set of wheels.”  The program is also supported and co-maintained by students in the Green Living Program, who encourage using bikes as an emissions-free transportation alternative for getting around campus and Harvard Square.

The current fleet is comprised of four bikes all donated by graduating students, and many community members hope to see this number grow as the program gains traction on campus.

Green Living Representative Sameer Birring, J.D. ’13, says, “I’ve met many students here at HLS who want to ride a bike around Cambridge, but don’t want to buy one. The HLS bike sharing program makes it easy for students to access bikes without having to worry about buying a bike, maintenance, and parking. Once students realize how convenient and fun bicycling is, they’ll hopefully continue to cycle even after leaving HLS.”

Bikes can be checked out from the Langdell Library circulation desk.  To learn more or reserve bikes online, visit the Harvard Law School Library’s bike-share webpage.