Your Boulevardier was very, very pleased to participate in this morning's Great Book Pass. The event, for the uninitiated, was the ceremonial transition fro the old to the new: 300 books were handed, one by one, through a chain of volunteers from the old Castro Valley Library on Redwood Road to the
spectacular new structure on Norbridge Avenue. One overheard conversation said that 1,600 volunteers were participating in the event.
Clad in his beret and accompanied by
Mon Petit Chou, Your Boulevardier reported at 8:00 a.m. to a table in front of
Dara Chan's State Farm office at the corner of Redwood Road and Jamison Way. (At least a dozen tables were placed at intervals along the entire 0.7 mile route.) Waiver forms were signed and free t-shirts were received.
The event was scheduled to begin at 8:30, so an thirty minutes had to be burned. First, the old library was visited, and the books to be passed were viewed. It was learned that the books to be passed were not from the library's circulating collection, but instead part of the
Friends of the Library's collection of books, intended to be sold (for just $2 apiece) to support the library. They ranged from biographies to cookbooks to fiction to children's books, and carried green frontispieces commemorating their participation in the event.
Around 8:30 a.m., our spot was returned to, and a little after 8:30 the first book arrived. It was
Arcadia Publishing's Castro Valley history book, wrapped in a green and gold ribbon. It was handed down the train of volunteers, who ranged in age from zero (babes in arms were spotted) to senior citizens. Scouting groups and church communities seemed particularly well-represented.
All participants had two things in common that Your Boulevardier could detect: impressive civic pride, and a sense of fun and enthusiasm for the morning's adventure. In spite of the foggy weather, the mood was warm and happy. As cars passed, horns were honked and waves were proffered.
It was wondered how the books would cross the streets; surely the library would not put its volunteers in the way of traffic. Indeed, book carts (festooned with balloons and streamers) were placed at each intersection, on the "upstream" side of the book flow; when the books in a cart reached a critical mass (as determined by the volunteers handling the carts), they were wheeled across the street and unloaded into the stream of people. Then the carts were returned to the upstream side of the street to be refilled.
The exception to this system was at the intersection of Redwood Road with Castro Valley Boulevard; here, two carts were used, one on either side of the street. The walk/don't walk signs were obeyed, and the full and empty carts were swapped at the middle of the intersection.
After about a half-hour of passing, the last book arrived, greeted with an energetic hurrah. Appropriately enough, it was entitled "Curtain." All participant wanted to touch it, and many had their photos taken with it.
After the final book had passed, people from upstream in the line began to filter by in the direction of the new library; a person who seemed to know what she was talking about announced that additional volunteers were needed at the tail end of the book-bucket-brigade, so
Mon Petit Chou and Your Boulevardier high-tailed it to Norbridge Avenue and re-joined the chain. Many of the books that that had been handled once earlier were passed once again.
Once the final book passed us (a second time), way was made across the footbridge to the library parking lot, where luminaries including
Castro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Jim Negri and
Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley milled about, greeting the public. Cookies, fruit, candy, and water were available, and a row of large ceremonial scissors awaited ribbon cutting. The mood was festive and proud.
The actual passing of books seemed to have happened much more quickly than the planners had envisioned, because an hour's wait was announced before the library would actually be opened. Your Boulevardier and Mon Petit Chou did not wait for the official opening, but instead made our way back to our car, satisfied that we had participated in an event that was truly historic and important in the life of Castro Valley.
Labels: beret, cool, events, library, Nate Miley, Redwood Road
