Many new books will be purchased for the Blanco Library, thanks to the $6000 earned for the participation of volunteers gathered by Friends of the Library for the Real Ale Bike Ride held this past May.

A check for that amount was presented last week to Jeff Holmes, president of Friends of the Library, and Crystal Spybuck, library director, by Gabriel Gregerman of the Real Ale Brewing Company and Chris Carter, marketing director of Bicycle Sport Shop of Austin.

Some 1400 riders and volunteers took part in the event. Volunteers manned booths to help riders with refreshments, directions, and other needs.

“We want to thank the volunteers for their work and the community for their understanding and thoughtfulness of riders,” said Holmes. “This type of event brings many people into our community and benefits our local economy. Everyone is looking forward to an even better event in 2010.”

All proceeds from projects of Friends of the Library are used to purchase books and other needs of the library.