POTTSTOWN PA – It probably is not what Zeus and other Greek gods envisioned as an ultimate athletic competition among humans. Then again, they’re not going to be the judges when the first-ever local Page Olympics get under way tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009) at 1 p.m. in Pottstown Public Library, 500 High St.
- Watch a 00m:34s video, above, hosted at the Pottstown Library user account on YouTube, created as a commercial to publicize the Page Olympics. Press the “play” button.
Library pages are behind-the-scenes people, usually teen-age students, who re-stock shelves with books, catalog and file newspapers and magazines, help with check-out and, truth be told, generally pick up after library patrons. What they do requires skill, dedication, and yes, a little bit of athleticism, library Director Mike Packard admits.
He and the Pottstown staff invited other libraries in the Montgomery County (PA) system to put themselves on the line Saturday in a competition of pages. The afternoon’s events include an extended arms book-hold, a chair push, a stair climb, book-shelving accuracy, bookshelf straightening, team back-shelving, and a holds obstacle course. The public is invited to attend and cheer the competitors on.
They produced two videos promoting the event, posted during the last two weeks on YouTube.
- Watch a second video of 00m:26s, above, hosted at the Pottstown Library user account on YouTube, that calls for Page Olympics judges. Press the “play” button.
The Page Olympics even got publicly plugged last Thursday (July 23, 2009), when Packard was a guest of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township commissioners during their second monthly meeting in the township municipal building on Buchert Road. Commissioners, who this year donated $60,000 to library operations, laughed over one video Packard screened and congratulated him for the effort.
Sadly, though, like Greek gods spurned, responses to the Pottstown page challenge have been slow in coming. As of last week, only the Indian Valley Public Library in Telford PA – 24 miles northwest of the borough – had agreed to field a team. A trophy will be awarded to the winning library.
Packard said he expected a total of just nine Olympians for the opening contest, but hoped for more at the last minute. “Some libraries probably just don’t know what to make of it yet,” he said. “But I think it’ll build over time.”
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of July 23):
- Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
- Antiquated Files Headed For Township Shredder
- Commissioners OK Zoning Board Appointments
- No Need To Ask Them Twice
- Township Says No To Sunnybrook Grant, Citing Risks
- Commissioners Cancel Next Meeting
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