The 11th annual Bike for Books happened on Father’s Day at Hazelton Secondary School and raised more than $2,800 for the L.O.G.S. Book Bus, which tours the Hazelton area giving away free books year-round.
A very dedicated volunteer team handed the reigns over to Robin Busby this year, and with the help of a number of others, has made the transition rather smoothly.
“I jumped in with both feet this year,” Busby said.
“Luckily I have a lot of support from my mom and David Jones.”
The event coincides with Father’s Day because founder, David Jones, decided to start the event circa 1999 in honour of his late father, who was an author, athlete and minister.
“I called it Legs, Love and Literacy in the beginning,” Jones said.
“He was a very kind man and I thought this event tied everything together nicely.
“We decided if people can’t get to the library, let’s take the library to them.”
The Book Bus averages more than 13,000 books circulated per year in 14 different communities in northwestern B.C., Jones said.
“Our target audience was children with the bus,” Jones said.
“But now it’s for young and old to make use of.”
Participants in Bike for Books must seek pledge money around the community.
Young children usually decide how many laps they will do and the amount of money they raise is based on a per lap amount.
More mature bike riders can ride a chosen course, such as the Robinson Lake mountainbike trails, or road and distance, which Robert and David Charet, Hazelton secondary Grade 8 students did.
They raised a combined $120, which turned out to be less than $0.50 per kilometre each.
They rode 160-kilometres each at about 22 kilometres per hour and finished in just under eight hours.
All the riders were more than happy to participate, as the Book Bus delivers a needed service to the area.
“The bus provides books to people who normally would have virtually no access to a library,” Busby, who has participated since she was 10-years-old, said.
“I think that reading is a very important thing for people to do.”