Castroville Library: A Resource for People Who Bike

What’s new in Castroville?

A new collection of bike-related materials at the Andy Ausonio Library, the Castroville branch of Monterey County Free Libraries. Titles are listed at the end of this post.

Not all items are pictured, since library users had quickly begun to check out some of the new books!

The photos directly above and below are courtesy of  Erik Thurman. Used by permission.

The 21 materials were selected by Castroville Library Branch Manager Erik Thurman. Bicycling Monterey asked Erik to select the items that the library’s patrons were most likely to enjoy. Purchase of these new items was made possible through a donation given to the library in appreciation for the work of Bicycling Monterey.

Where is the Castroville library? 11160 Speegle Street, Castroville.  Phone: (831) 769-8724.

Don’t have a library card? No problem. Library cards are free at Castroville and all Monterey County Free Libraries! Ask a librarian if you have questions or need help applying for a card.

You may apply for a card at any branch or bookmobile; learn more about library cards here. Monterey County residents may apply online.

When is the library open? As of January 23, 2016, hours at the Castroville library are as follows. The Monterey County Free Libraries website lists current hours for Castroville and all branches here.

• Sunday – Closed
• Monday – Closed
• Tuesday 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• Wednesday 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• Thursday 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The 21 new items

in the Castroville library’s collection include four items in Spanish, which are highlighted in red on the list below.

As the librarians know, many people from Castroville and elsewhere in North County appreciate having Spanish materials as well as English. (That’s also true for many other people throughout Monterey County.)

The librarians at Castroville’s public library are happy to be of help to people who bike—or might want to!—by finding  information resources in the library’s collection and elsewhere. That helpfulness includes that Castroville librarian Irene is fluently bilingual Spanish-English. For more Spanish-speaking librarians, call the Monterey County Free Libraries number, (831) 883-7555, and choose extension 3 for Spanish.

The librarians can help patrons find additional Spanish resources at the library for people who bike. They also gladly assist in locating other information resources, such as Bicycling Monterey’s Spanish resources compilation, http://bit.ly/espanolBICI and list of Monterey County’s local bike shops with bilingual staff.

And the library offers free use of the Internet, so you can access resources on the World Wide Web even if you don’t have Internet access at home. As librarians know, a substantial number of people are without Internet access, as Pew Research reported in 2013 and as was still the case in 2016: See Pew Research’s update “Digital divide persists even as lower-income Americans make gains in tech adoption.”

Want to know anything else?

A good place to start is to ask a librarian!

Libraries are community treasures, for people of all ages and economic brackets. And as writer Anne Herbert put it: “Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.”

The Castroville librarians are also aware of the free bike road skills classes made available through a partnership between the Transportation Agency for Monterey County and California State University Monterey Bay. The librarians know too that Spanish interpretation can be provided, on advance request, for those classes.

Curious why TAMC decided it makes sense to offer Spanish interpretation for the bicycling road skills classes? Castroville librarians know! Refer to the chart below, which was published in the June 9, 2011 Monterey County Weekly. Click image to enlarge.

© Monterey County Weekly. Used by permission.

So what are you waiting for? Check out the new bike-related items at the Castroville library.

Say hello to the librarians while you are there. Librarians love to get acquainted with the people using the library. When they hear from library patrons what they are looking for, it helps librarians know what to order when funds for new purchases are available. Teens and others: don’t be shy! Let the librarians know what’s needed.

Head over to the Castroville library, 11160 Speegle Street, Castroville.

Remember that if you have questions about the library or its collections, the librarians also welcome you to phone them: (831) 769-8724.

Are you riding your bike to the Castroville library? There’s a bike rack at the library; remember to bring your own lock.

Click here for bicycle security tips. Do you wish there was also a skateboard rack at Castroville library, or perhaps even a bicycle repair station so you can pump up your tires or adjust your brakes, etc. before heading off with your load of library items? Contact the Transportation Agency for Monterey County about their program providing free skateboard racks, as well as bike racks, lockers, or repair stations where they are needed; click here for details, include deadlines by which property owners (e.g., the County of Monterey) must apply.

If you encounter infrastructure challenges when you’re biking to the library…

such as a pothole, vegetation overgrowth, or signage need, email or phone Ariana Green at TAMC: (831) 775-4403 or  ariana@tamcmonterey.org.  (TAMC’s website is in the process of redesign. Temporarily the usual links for the Bicycle Facilities Service Request form, to submit input online—and the form to fax, postal mail, or hand deliver print version—are not working.)

For more Castroville tips, plus a list of the first HER Helmet Thursdays spots in Castroville and in the North County communities of Moss Landing, Pajaro and Prunedale, see Bicycling Monterey’s section “Bicycling Castroville plus North County HER Helmet Thursdays spots.”

New Items Added to the Collection of the

Castroville Branch

of  Monterey County Free Libraries

The following items were added to the library’s collection in December 2015. These purchases were made possible by a donation received in appreciation for the work of Mari Lynch, Bicycling Monterey.

Want to know more about any of these items, or whether they are checked out? Check the library catalog online – search by title, author, or subject, e.g., “bicycles and bicycling,” or phone the library, (831) 769-8724.

Photo below provided by Erik Thurman. Used by permission.

Bicycling Monterey appreciates the work of all the Castroville librarians, including their creating a special display to bring attention to their new materials about bicycling!

1. Bug on a Bike by Chris Monroe
2. Eric’s Big Day: A Bicycle Race Unlike Any Other by Rod Waters
3. Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka
4. The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett
5. The Great Bike Rescue by Hazel Hutchins
6. The Green Bicycle by Haifaa Al Mansour
7. Lanterne Rouge: The Last Man in the Tour de France by Max Leonard
8. My Bike by Byron Barton
9. Pedal It!: How Bicycles Are Changing the World by Michelle Mulder
10. The Racing Bicycle: Design, Function, Speed by Richard Moore
11. The Red Bicycle: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bicycle by Jude Isabella
12. The Road Headed West: A 6000byMile Cycling O by Leon McCarron
13. Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom by Sue Macy
14. En Bicicleta by Cassie Mayer
15. The Bicycle Garden by Walter Williams
16. Bicycle!: A Repair & Maintenance Manifesto by Sam Tracy
17. El Jardin de Bicicletas by Walter Williams
18. Essential Bicycle Maintenance & Repair by Daimeon Shanks
19. In a Cloud of Dust by Alma Fullerton
20. ¡No Tan Rápido! by Anna Prokos
21. Seguridad y las Bicicletas by Sue Barraclough

Castroville also has library branchlets, offering free books on a “take a book, leave a book” honor system. At branchlets you never know what you will find—maybe there will even be a bike-related book there! Visit the Monterey County Free Libraries website for current branchlet locations and other details: http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/library/branchlets.html