or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk



Reference Question of the Week – 3/24/13

   March 30th, 2013

Pickleball action shotWhile sitting at the Reference Desk with a coworker one day, the phone rang - she answered it before I did, which is too bad because I would have loved to hear a patron ask this question:

Can you tell me where I can play pickleball in Chelmsford?

I think if there is anything bizarre in the world, eventually someone will ask about it at the library.

Neither of us had heard of pickleball, but apparently it is a thing. A quick web search turned up a surprisingly legitimate-looking and extensive USA Pickleball Association website. They have a "What is Pickleball?" page, but basically it seems to be a combination of tennis, ping pong, and badminton. Here's a very long demo video, with loud and crazy music:

Anyway, back to the question at hand. The USAPA website also had a "Places to Play" page, which allows you to limit by state. The Massachusetts list had a lot of places, some not too far away, but sadly none in Chelmsford yet. There is also a pickleball waiting list on Meetup.com, and pickleball made it into the Boston Globe.

Pickleball growth chartThis definitely seems like a regional sport, based on existing pickleball meetup groups and and the USAPA.org's regional links (bottom of the left navigation bar). It also seems to be growing fast, according to the USAPA's chart of places to play pickleball.

I think the patron was a little disappointed there wasn't a local group of players she could join, but good for her for being one of the early adopters in this area.

I'll be curious to see if this sport catches on here. It reminds me of cornhole, which I discovered in library school at Kent State. One day I had never heard of the game, and then suddenly the next day everyone was playing it.

Although, I also have to admit that new games like this always remind me of Guyball. Sadly, that doesn't seem to have caught on yet.




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