Michigan

WestMichRad

(2,245 posts) Wed Apr 16, 2025, 09:01 PM Wednesday

'Book brigade': US town forms human chain to move 9,100 books one-by-one

Cool story!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/17/book-brigade-us-town-forms-human-chain-to-move-9100-books-one-by-one

Residents of all ages in a small Michigan community formed a human chain and helped a local bookshop move each of its 9,100 books – one by one – to a new storefront about a block away.

The “book brigade” of about 300 people stood in two lines running along a sidewalk in downtown Chelsea on Sunday, passing each title from Serendipity Books’ former location directly to the correct shelves in the new building, down the block and around the corner on Main Street.

“It was a practical way to move the books, but it also was a way for everybody to have a part,” Michelle Tuplin, the store’s owner, said. “As people passed the books along, they said ‘I have not read this’ and ‘that’s a good one’.”

It took about 2 hours to move all the books, and they were all in alphabetical order on their new shelves when the job was complete.

6 replies

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'Book brigade': US town forms human chain to move 9,100 books one-by-one (Original Post) WestMichRad Wednesday OP

I love this! sheshe2 Wednesday #1

So clever -- Brilliant, actually -- on many levels. wordstroken Wednesday #2

This tells me that people really want connection slightlv Wednesday #3

Human chains like this could be used to block ice from kidnapping people or going SSJVegeta Wednesday #4

Very uplifting in this day and age there might be hope for us jgmiller Wednesday #5

Wonderful story. bif Thursday #6

sheshe2

(91,353 posts)

1. I love this!

Reply to WestMichRad (Original post)

Wed Apr 16, 2025, 09:21 PM

Wednesday

How cool is that! People that love books and handle them with loving care. Pass that knowledge on.

wordstroken

(1,057 posts)

2. So clever -- Brilliant, actually -- on many levels.

Reply to WestMichRad (Original post)

Wed Apr 16, 2025, 09:32 PM

Wednesday

Thank you so much for sharing, WestMichRad.

slightlv

(5,393 posts)

3. This tells me that people really want connection

Reply to WestMichRad (Original post)

Wed Apr 16, 2025, 09:45 PM

Wednesday

and community with each other. trump is trying to tear it down as fast as he trashes the government, but I think the faster he goes, the more we'll feel the need for "community" as support against him. People like to be part of something with their neighbors; it's one of the reasons I used to love to vote at the polling place... running into and talking with neighbors around the block I maybe hadn't seen in a while. As Maslow said, people have a hierarchy of needs that must be met. I think we intrinsically reach towards those goals to better ourselves and help others. Try as he might, trump can't stomp this out of every individual, world wide. People also have a very bad habit of not liking to be told what to do or not do. They put up with having to deal with this kind of crap at work because the need for money outweighs the need to tell the boss to shove it. But a stupid orange face demanding things he won't even consider for himself and his? Nah... it might work for a while, but there will come a tipping point at which no more is tolerated, IMO.