Christmas By The Book: A Tree Created Entirely Out Of Books

Christmas has always come in ever changing packaging, even though the message stays the same. Lately, the colors of Christmas have changed slightly and more and more vibrant colors have entered the holidays. We’re no longer bound to red, green and white. It’s all about the celebration and giving, that’s for sure, and every year we’re buying more and more stuff to give away. For a geek, that is good news, for the environment, that’s not so good news. However, with the sharp minds of the world, we’re always changing the way we take care of our garbage. Hopefully we will still view Christmas the same way, even though we slightly skew the origins and packaging of it all.

Gleeson Library in San Francisco decided to celebrate Christmas by the books, literally. Using The National Union Catalog countless volumes, they created a Christmas tree all their own. The build in itself isn’t that complicated it seems, but it’s the effect of a man-made tall tree that is the amazing factor here. Together with a few hand crafted ornaments, it has become the only tree I would ever want to see in a library.

Shawn Calhoun has snapped a ton of pictures of this epic Christmas tree, and it’s safe to say that it’s “literally” the coolest tree in any library so far. And, if you think it’s a recycling thing, you’re wrong. The books were safely returned to their designated positions in the library when Christmas was over. This took place last year (2009) so I wonder what they will do for this year’s Christmas. The only way to find out is to pay the Gleeson Library a visit I guess.