On September 18, 1963 Bridgewater College carried out an “Operation Booklift” to move materials across campus and into the newly constructed Alexander Mack Memorial Library.
One hundred twenty-nine students were assigned to work with the faculty, directing traffic and refreshments during the Booklift. The remaining 653 students worked together in removing books from the old Cole Hall library shelves, carefully packing and then carrying them across campus.
Students labored in pairs to carry more than 50,000 books in the special transportation cartons ordered for the Booklift. The Bridgewater College Eagles football team hauled larger cartons of stored books out of the old gym and into the library. Football players also moved furniture.
Once in the Alexander Mack Memorial Library, students walked cartons to the floors, stacks and shelves designated by matching labels on their transportation boxes and on the library shelves. Students passed empty cartons out the library windows for return to Cole Hall. Special book spotters double checked to make certain the texts had been correctly placed.
Activities broke for a lunch hour with a picnic on the campus lawn.
The first box of books left their shelves in the Cole Hall library at 9 a.m., and the last box of books was shelved in the Alexander Mack Memorial Library at 1:09 p.m. The task of moving into the new library was completed in four hours and nine minutes! The new Alexander Mack Memorial Library was ready to open for business the following day!
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