I'm not positive about this, but I THINK it came from the words coined to echo the sound of running footsteps - bookity-bookity-bookity - and then the familiar word-forming process of clipping occurred.

Book it, booking on: It is slang meaning to run fast. I used to hear people use it to describe running in football games when I was cheerleader (she mumbled embarrassedly). "Did you see Bozeman? He was bookin'! They didn't stop him until he got to the three [yard line]." A couple of references associate "book it" meaning to move fast with "book it" meaning to study or "hit the books." ("Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner" by Geneva Smitherman, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1994; and "Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G" by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994.) Random House says "book it" is influenced by "boogie." Both sources say the phrase dates back to the 1970s. http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/25/messages/833.html It was used often by school mates all through elementary scholl up to high school (circa 1968-1980). "He was really booken" meaning he was running with all his might. It could be a trucker's slang word in USA. When a person is getting ready to leave a place and travel in a car or truck - "Bookin' on down the road." It means he was really 'bookin' it (Going fast). http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/42/messages/1129.html The Urban slang dictionary says: 1. run fast such as in a race, or being chased 2. to go quickly, move fast http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bookin to get the hell outta dodge, running away as fast as you can (to avoid being caught for something that you did wrong) http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=booked To leave in haste, because of an unexpected emergency. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bookin%27 Old school term, comes from the early 70s locking dance scene, good dancing or locking also means to leave a location, or to do something in a hurry. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=booking

I believe the phrase originated in Akron, OH. In the tire industry when tread rubber stock slabs come down the conveyor a worker picks them up and places them in booking trays later to be transported to a tire building machine. When the treads are coming fast and the worker is working quickly to "book" the treads he is said to be really bookin'. The booking trays have "pages" made of metal that keep the layers of treads from sticking together. These carts full of trays are called books.