November 26, 2010

March of the Librarians


Gayle Tudisco, front, lines up in formation with fellow book cart drill team members Lynne Mann and Meryle Zusman Tuesday in preparation for Saturday's Annual Holiday Parade

By CHELSEY POLLOCK
Union Leader Correspondent
Nancy Chase, left, teaches new choreography
 to the library book cart drill team.
DERRY -- This weekend, Derry Public Library staff will take their book carts to the streets to show patrons they can really mix things up.
“I think some people are afraid to come in and ask questions because maybe they feel embarrassed,” said Heather Weisen, a library page. “I hope
 that after seeing us doing something silly, they’ll know that we’re not all so serious.”
And with Dr. Seuss hats, embellished book carts and a drill team routine choreographed to music from The Grinch, library staff will march in their first-ever annual Holiday Parade on Saturday.
Though staff are new to the parade, Joy Cronin said they jumped at the chance to participate
 in this year’s theme of “Book Characters on Parade.”
“We’d never done it before, but when we saw the theme, it was one of those opportunities we couldn’t pass up,” said Cronin, who will be dressed as The Grinch for Saturday’s parade as she shouts out drill team commands.
Group members have been meeting after hours for two months to practice their three, 2-minute long choreographed routines, which include line 
formations, spins and shouted cadences.
And while the library drill team is new to Derry, organizer Nancy Chase said the phenomenon has been a big hit at library conferences for years. 
Chase said she had seen library drill teams on Internet videos, but never in person. To put together her routines, Chase turned to a book published on the subject — The Library Book Cart Precision Drill Team Manual. 
“I’ve never done anything like this ever and had never seen it in person, but the manual was so well written it made it easy,” said Chase. 
The library drill team will join numerous other floats for Saturday’s parade sponsored by the Greater Derry Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, which begins at 1 p.m. 
More than 80 floats, bands and marching units are expected to parade down West Broadway and ending at Hood Commons on Crystal Avenue. 
Directly following the parade, the town’s parks and recreation department will host its Very Derry Holiday Event at Veterans Memorial Hall on West Broadway, with children’s crafts and games beginning at 2 p.m. A tree-lighting ceremony and carol singing will begin at 5:15 p.m. outside the Adams Memorial Opera House.

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