The Mercantile Library — an intellectual hub in Cincinnati since 1853 — brings their own literary twist to Christmas. Literally. They made a Christmas tree out of old books.
The tree-made-out-of-books tradition started back in 2016. But, according to Amy Hunter, the structural design of the tree has greatly improved since that first year. “Like most people who work in libraries, I am a huge bookworm, and have always wanted to make a tree out of books,” said Hunter, the literary programs and marketing manager at the Library and the mastermind behind the tree.
The tree is made out of books that were once part of the library collection, but have since been deemed “deaccessioned”. That means the Mercantile Library had to get rid of these books to make room for new ones. In terms of how that process works, Hunter explained, “books of historic, cultural, & literary value remain in the collection. We keep some books in storage specifically for the tree.”
The tree was created by four members of the library staff and one volunteer recruited from social media.
Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut St., Downtown, mercantilelibrary.com.
This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 5, 2018.
