Bike to the Vernon Area Library, get a reward

Ride a bicycle to the Vernon Area Public Library during the month of May and receive a complimentary backpack in honor of National Bike Month.

National Bike Month is sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists and celebrated each May in communities from coast to coast. Established in 1956, National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling and encourage more people to give it a try.

Whether riding to work or school, bicycling to save money or emissions, pumping the pedals for health or exploring the community, National Bike Month is an opportunity to celebrate the many reasons to ride.

Vernon Area Public Library, 300 Olde Half Day Road in Lincolnshire, is supporting the national initiative by encouraging patrons to pedal to the library. Throughout May, any library visitor who shows a bike helmet at the checkout desk will receive a rugged, nylon backpack to keep. Everyone with a Vernon Area Public Library card lives within six miles of the library, a bikeable distance for even inexperienced riders.

The library's bike rack is convenient to the main entrance and is sheltered. Patrons are always encouraged to lock up their bikes. Bicyclists are also urged to use area bike paths.

A map of Lincolnshire's system is available online at www.village.lincolnshire.il.us/sitemedia/documents/quick_links/recreation-path-map.pdf.

The Vernon Area Public Library District serves a population of 42,900 within a 29-square-mile area that includes Lincolnshire, Prairie View, and parts of Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, Riverwoods, Vernon Hills, and unincorporated Vernon and Ela townships.

For more information about the library and its services, visit www.vapld.info.