DPL Connect pedals free books and wifi into Civic Center today

Civic Center Eats will sport a very tasty addition today: DPL Connect, a tricked-out trike that peddles (and pedals) a collection of free books (tomes being purged from the collection) and also serves up a wi-fi hot spot. The book bike made its debut yesterday on the Garden Block of...

By Patricia Calhoun

August 8, 2013

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Civic Center Eats will sport a very tasty addition today: DPL Connect, a tricked-out trike that peddles (and pedals) a collection of free books (tomes being purged from the collection) and also serves up a wi-fi hot spot. The book bike made its debut yesterday on the Garden Block of the 16th Street Mall (between Curtis and Champ streets); when we encountered it last night, there were still copies of Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent bio and the last Stephen White book. (Sorry, we grabbed the Lee Child.)

But DPL Connect should be restocked -- with some food/gardening volumes added to the newer fiction offerings -- when Civic Center Eats gets rolling at 11 a.m. today. So at the same time you're grabbing lunch, you can also act on the Denver Public Library's slogan suggestion that you "feed your mind." See also: - Photos: The Food of Civic Center Eats - Thirty years in, the 16th Street Mall is still going strong - Best Denver Public Library News 2013: Increased hours

And the librarian pedaling DPL Connect, who's armed with a tablet and an Internet connection, can also provide more traditional services, helping customers with digital downloads (eBooks, audio books, digital magazines), offering reading suggestions, assisting with research and registering new customers for library cards.

Ultimately, the DPL hopes to allow customers to check out library books from the bike -- anything from the collection, says spokeswoman Jen Morris. But for now, the books are free.

Need something to read? Here's the current line-up of DPL Connect appearances:

August 8 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Civic Center Eats, Civic Cener Park

August 11 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. VIVA Streets, Tennyson Street at 46th Avenue

September 7 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tour de Fat, City Park

September 13 6:30-8:30 p.m. Bike-in Movie, Civic Center Park

For updates, go to the DPL's Facebook page.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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