Do you love bikes and books? Then join us for the fourth annual Tour des Bibliothéques!
- When: Saturday, April 30: assemble 9:30 – 9:50 a.m., depart 10:00 a.m.
- Where: Meet at Central Library, on the Quincy Street side of the building, near the front doors
- Distance: The total circular route will cover some 30 miles and take between three and four hours, but there will be several options for riding shorter portions.
Tour des Bibliothéques is a great way get your exercise, visit new neighborhoods, and meet local cycling/book lovers while visiting seven of the county’s eight locations (we skip the Plaza Branch Library because it is closed on weekends).
The bicycle tour will not be held in the event of bad weather. For more information, please contact raltem@arlingtonva.us
As a francophone, it has always annoyed me that the french word "librairie" means bookstore and not "library", while a library is a "bibliothèque." If you want to use the word "bibliothèque" in the plural form, as in "Tour des bibliothèques," you'll need a plural "s" at the end of the word.
As a French librarian who was working in a library system, we call that “un réseau de bibliothèques”. So, you could say “Le Tour du Réseau”.
But “Le Tour des Bibliothèques” is perfect! (and prettier)…
Barbara, you've discovered our secret debate!We've gone back and forth on whether to use the plural form. Our most recent conclusion was to use the singular form because it's a bike tour of the Arlington Library system, which is one thing, even though it has many branches. If we expanded our tour to the Library systems of DC, Alexandria and Fairfax, then it would be Libraries plural. But maybe we're using the term wrong? What do you think?
Then you have two options: 1) tour de bibliothèque (singular); 2) tour des bibliothèques (plural). If you use "des", then the noun has to be plural. That, I am sure of.I'm less certain about whether the word "bibliotheque" can be used to refer to a library system with multiple branches or whether it only refers to a single location, a branch.
Ouch, the non-matching singular/plural! I didn't even realize we'd done that… French is obviously not my specialty.I guess I'll play it safe and go with multiples – thanks!
Glad to hear you're doing it again this year! I'll be at a family member's wedding or I'd definitely come back for a second helping; had a real blast with the 2010 TdB.
Looks like perfect riding weather on Saturday. Also, the ACPD Auxiliary Unit will be escorting the group, so bring the family and enjoy the ride. Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/acpdaux
Looking for more bicycle + library action? Check out "Tour de DCPL 2"We are beginning at Tenley Library at 9:30am. Please email barbara.dougherty@dc.gov with any questions!The Tour de DCPL is a library-oriented bicycle ride of DC., stopping at five DC Public Libraries. It is being organized by bicycle-riding library lovers as a way to promote environmentally friendly transportation to D.C.'s libraries, and as a fun way to see the city. This year's ride meets at the Tenley/Friendship Neighborhood Library at 4450 Wisconsin Ave N.W. at 9:30 a.m. and begins shortly after.
Do you have a cue sheet for the Tour des Bibliotheques? My biking group would like to do this tour but the map doesn’t show all the street names.