Library Book Cart Drill Teams

In this quirky contest, librarians have a freewheeling time. (Boston Globe, 4/30/2011)

Excerpt: Book cart drill teams aren’t a phenomenon unique to Massachusetts, and they’re not exactly new, either. Ever since 1983, when one of the earliest book cart drill teams formed in Virginia, teams have been sprouting up at libraries across the country, rehearsing synchronized routines and making occasional appearances at conferences, festivals, and parades.

There’s even an official Book Cart Drill Team World Championship. The American Library Association hosts the event as part of its annual conference. (The registration forms for the latest contest challenged librarians to “strut your stuff’’ and showed a woman leaping over a blue book cart with her legs splayed like a gymnast.)

The annual conference of the Massachusetts Library Association has included a book cart drill team competition for the past four years. Previous performers have included teams like the Andover Cartwheelers, Plymouth Rockettes, Methuen Des Cartes Coquettes, and the ">Arlington Rockin’ Robbins.