By Edward Hirst

Rowan Public Library

Recently I needed to do some repairs on my bicycles and so I thought it might be wise to see what the library offered in the way of repair manuals. I knew I could save some money if I could do the repairs myself. I was able to find a number of good repair manuals to help with my endeavors.

“The Bicycle Repair Manual” by Chris Sidwell (628.2877 SID) is a well designed manual that will help everyone from the novice mechanic to the seasoned veteran repair their own bicycles. Illustrated with highly detailed color photographs to guide your efforts, this book breaks repairs down in easy-to-follow steps.

“The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance & Repair for Road and Mountain Bikes” by Todd Downs (629.2877 DOW) is illustrated with black and white photos and line drawings. Each part of a bicycle has its own section that explains that part in detail, which is then followed by a troubleshooting list of common issues related to that part and what steps to take to fix it. Finally, there are detailed photos and steps that go into further detail about the part in question.

Leonard Zinn has written two books about bicycle maintenance that the library owns: “Zinn and The Art of Road Bike Maintenance” (629.2877 ZIN) and “Zinn and The Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance” (629.2877 ZIN). Both books have clear instructions with line drawings to help guide your work, and it covers many of the repairs you would need to do to maintain or fix most types of bicycles.

“Maintaining Mountain Bikes/The Do It Yourself Guide” (629.2877 ALL) by Mel Allwood is a well written manual illustrated with step-by-step color photographs. The book contains a glossary and a chapter explaining basic tools and equipment.

Did you think Haynes only wrote car and motorcycle repair manuals? They also make one for bicycles, and it is written in easy-to-follow style that would make beginners feel comfortable. Chapters that are included in “The Haynes Bicycle Book” (629.2877 HEN) include how to set up a bike, routine maintenance, troubleshooting and repair procedures for road, mountain, hybrid, cruiser and BMX bikes.

Find these books and others at Rowan Public Library.

Programs for children and teens on hiatus in August.

Library Card Sign-up Month: At headquarters (201W. Fisher St.), East (110 Broad St., Rockwell) and South (920 Kimball Road, China Grove) branches. Join us as we celebrate 2017 Library Card Sign-up Month through a combination of active and passive programming. Individual events TBA; contact your nearest branch for details. 

Book Bites Club: South, Aug. 29, 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. We discuss a different book each month and serve refreshments loosely related to the theme. This month is “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” Need more information? Call 704-216-7731.

Friends of RPL and Cheerwine Concert Series: Logie Meachum, Aug. 29, 7 p.m., headquarters. Lorenzo “Logie” Meachum, a native of Greensboro and pioneer of the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, will perform. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Free, open to the public; all ages welcome.

Teen Programming Interest Meeting: Headquarters. Sept. 5, 4:30 p.m. Interested to see what teen programs Rowan Public Library is offering this year? Want to offer input about what you would like to see at a future event? Just want to hang out for a while after school? Come help us kick off the fall programming season.

Displays: Headquarters, Communities in Schools and Anime Club; gallery, Waterworks Visual Arts; East, Glenda Hunsucker photography; South, golden bobbins textile display.

Literacy: Call the Rowan County Literacy Council at 704-216-8266 for more information on teaching or receiving literacy tutoring for English speakers or for those for whom English is a second language.