Stark Library continually aspires to meet the evolving needs of our community. Stark County has experienced a rapid influx of new trails and on-road bike lanes over the past 15-20 years. As these trails expanded and connected our community, many of them were built adjacent to library properties. When TomTod, a community partner who facilitates the creative ideas of middle school students, approached the library with the concept of a free bike share program, we decided it was a challenge we wanted to meet.

Based on our preliminary research five years ago, there were few bike share programs across the country that offered a completely free service — none that were administered by a public library of our size. Stark Library is known in our community as an innovative organization and we felt that a bike share program fit perfectly with our philosophy. We pursued a collaborative with other progressive community partners that had a vested interest in the recreational or transportation benefits of a bike share program.

The reception of BikeSmart was more successful than we could have imagined. Over the life of the program, the system has had eight different starting locations utilizing up to 48 bikes. Since the inception of the program in May 2015, residents have made more than 12,000 individual trips and has over 2,600 members. We continue to seek partners and locations to expand the program and offer more access to Stark County residents.