Full Disclosure: I’m not feeling the Christmas vibe this year. I can’t name one, or even two, specific reasons but it sure doesn’t feel like Christmas is just a couple of weeks away.
Until I walk inside the library where we have a veritable forest of literary-inspired Christmas trees. In fact there are twenty-five of them scattered throughout both floors of the building. Some are veterans of past years, such as The Grinch and Willy Wonka trees on the first floor and Little House on the Prairie and the Wizard of Oz (complete with tornado) on the second floor. Some, like Treasure Island, have had a facelift.
And this year we have four new ones making their debut: Sailor Moon in Young Adult area, Bluey in the Youth Services department, Barbie can’t be missed in the Lobby, and A Christmas Story can be found in the Adult Services department on the second floor.
The creativity of our staff is amazing (and I am not including myself in that sentence—craftiness is not my forte). These trees also show the depth and breadth of their knowledge of books. Which is why we invite you to come in, grab a Holiday Tree Guide so you can view all of them, and then vote for your favorite.
After hearing Diana Carter read from “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” followed by carol singing with Phil, I was feeling slightly more festive but there was nostalgia hovering about the edges. And to be honest, I suspect I’m feeling fairly jaded with the state of things—it’s certainly not easy finding much peace on earth, and good will to all these days.
And I realized that was what I was missing—that sense of wonder I had as a child, looking at the silvery garlands draped across Broadway or after pushing the button on Wheeler’s window that started up the model train or seeing the lights on our Christmas tree, from Dario’s Grocery Store, turned on for the first time.