Volusia County Public Library Wins Innovation Award

Posted On: October 4, 2024

An inventive program that provides bicycles to low-income, working adults has earned the Volusia County Public Library an Innovation Award from the Northeast Florida Library Information Network.

The Pedal Forward Project was spearheaded by the Social Workers in Libraries program after the County's social workers saw a need for reliable transportation among their clients. Votran, the Volusia County Sheriff's Foundation, and First Presbyterian Church of New Smyrna Beach donated the bicycles, which library facilities staff refurbished. The Friends of the Library groups at the Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, and Deltona regional libraries provided bike locks, and River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization provided vouchers for free helmets and fittings.

So far, nine bicycles have been given to persons the social workers identified as needing a bicycle to find or maintain a new job.

"Connecting participants with refurbished bicycles allows them a greater sense of self-reliance and independence and affords them a wider search area for employment," said Assistant Library Director Melissa Reynolds.

The program also grants them greater flexibility for shift availability, diminishes tardiness with established jobs, minimizes weather exposure via shorter travel times, improves the stamina necessary to maintain heavy work schedules for more labor-intensive jobs, and diminishes the community's waste footprint by keeping usable bicycles out of local landfills.