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July 17, 2009 by Betsy Bird

ALA 2009: Book Cart Drill Team

July 17, 2009 by Betsy Bird   12 comments


On the flip side of the coin, here is how you attend the Book Cart Drill Teams if you are not performing.

Come at least half an hour early.  Do NOT sit directly in front of the action.  I mean, I guess you could if you wanted to, but I find that a side view is far preferable.  If you sit in the middle you cannot properly see the antics.  And you will want to see the antics.  The antics are imperative.  Note: Imperitive Antics would make a good title of a YA novel… for very weird children.

Mind you, this year one of the big jokes in a certain performance didn’t make any sense if you sat on the side.  So . . . there’s that.

The hosts, until someone else happens to come along to challenge their throne (memememe!), are usually Jon Scieszka and Mo Willems.  They offer the correct levels of oomph and panache.  They are also chuckleheads.  A useful thing in dual MCs.  Strangely they both manage to hold their own at the same time.  You would expect either one or the other to slip into the straight man role, but this has not yet occurred in my lifetime.

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Anywho, sit on the side.  Sit in the front (you may have to arrive earlier than 30 minutes to do this).  If you’re lucky you will find yourself next to the very thin see-through curtain where you can see the performers in their sparkly wear, as well as the very loud easy-to-distinguish Jon Sciezka.

Then the show begins.  And you think to yourself, "How hard would it really be to do this next year?"  And then you begin to picture yourself in various scenes and scenarios.  You start rewritting the lyrics to Rihanna’s Shut Up and Drive so that it’s now Shut Up and Shelve.  You think about complicated book cart routines involving stacking, and dances along the lines of OK GO.  Substitute conveyor belts for book carts.  Genius!

It all pops like a brilliant bubble when you remember that (if you live in New York anyway) there is nowhere to practice.  And while a five borough team would be brilliant, are you really ready to break out choreography skills?  Skills that you are fairly certain you are lacking?

Only one way to find out!

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About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

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About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. kim baker says

    July 17, 2009 at 1:50 am

    Do it, Betsy! You can find somewhere to practice.

    Does the ALA provide book carts, or do the librarians have to haul their own in? I guess it could double as a luggage carrier.

  2. janeyolen says

    July 17, 2009 at 2:46 am

    I love you Betsy Bird. You make the Drill Cart Team antics even BETTER! (If that is possible.)

    Factoid: Award-winning children’s book author Barbara Diamond Goldin who is also the children’s librarian at the Easthampton, MA library, has been on a local drill team.

  3. Fuse #8 says

    July 17, 2009 at 5:41 am

    You know, I’ve never been able to determine if librarians have to bring their own carts or if DEMCO provides. And what if you have a super secret cart with extra cool features? In my own library we once had a cart with a middle wheel. Would that even be allowed?

  4. JMyersbook says

    July 17, 2009 at 7:16 am

    Brilliant coverage of a brilliant event! Bravo! Brava! Io Triumphe! (That last is a collegiate in-joke in honor of co-Emcee Jon Scieszka.) And, last but not least, DO let the pigeon drive the book cart! (Yea, Mo!)

  5. Irene says

    July 17, 2009 at 10:33 am

    Thanks for putting together this enticing glimpse into the competitive world of book cart drilling! A great consolation to those who were unable to attend.
    Irene

  6. Sondy says

    July 17, 2009 at 1:29 pm

    Oh, now they need to have Mo make souvenir programs: DO let the pigeon drive the Book Cart! Hmm. If I were a choreographer, it would be tempting to try to make a pigeon-driving-the-bus theme. Good thing I’m NOT! Or maybe, in honor to Jon Scieszka, Bump! Crash! Smash! with a Trucktown theme. Like I say, good thing I KNOW I have no choreography skills!

  7. Rasco from RIF says

    July 17, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    Thank you! I have never seen this in person and have always wished to do so….now I want to do so even more!

  8. Tanita says

    July 18, 2009 at 10:05 am

    Okay, people seriously DO this.
    That is HILARIOUS. Bets… the drill teams NEED YOU. Need your hip grasp of popular culture, your bravery with body art and the imperative antics which you alone could produce. You MUST do this. And then film it. And let us applaud.

  9. Fuse #8 says

    July 18, 2009 at 10:10 am

    I envision roller blades . . .

  10. Karibeth says

    July 19, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    I talked to one of the Baraboo team members–she said that Demco does provide the carts, but they brought the red dolly down with them.

  11. tanita says

    July 19, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    Roller blades. Bowler hats. Pop guns…

  12. Fuse #8 says

    July 19, 2009 at 6:46 pm

    …those garters you wear on your upper arms…

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