Read & Ride BikeShare Program at Law School Library lends bikes, helmets

The Harvard Law School Library, HLS Sustainability and the HLS Green Living Program launched the Read & Ride BikeShare program in September 2010 to provide a more eco-friendly mode of transportation.

“Many of our students who live in Somerville borrow our bikes to ride home because it’s so much faster than walking and can even sometimes be faster than taking the T,” said Brian Sutton, an access specialist at the Law School Library. The program includes four bicycles, each with an entry in the HOLLIS catalog. Three of the bikes can be borrowed for up to three hours and one can be signed out for up to 24. An accompanying helmet is loaned with each bike.

“It can be very popular—especially on Saturdays or on nice days after classes have finished,” Sutton said.

May is National Bike Month, and Sutton said the communal bikes are in particularly high demand during the spring when the weather is ideal for riding and students are studying the most and want to save time or relax. The Law School Library is currently the University’s only library with a bike-share program, although other libraries have inquired about starting similar programs.

The bikes are maintained by Crimson Bikes—a student-run bike-sharing organization, that checks and repairs the bicycles regularly free of charge. Bikes can be borrowed at the circulation desk; check their availability here.