The Friends of the Flint Memorial Library sponsored a special event in December called "Every Tree Tells a Story." The Friends invited members of the North Reading community to decorate a tree or a wreath with the theme from a favorite book. The Friends' goals, in addition to fundraising, were: to create a community event that would bring together groups from around town; to bring people into the library; and to promote reading. During the week of December 6-11, there were over 65 exhibits throughout the library. Participants included schools and churches, local organizations, such as the garden club and a book discussion group, as well as individuals, and families. Business sponsors helped underwrite the program. "Every Tree" was adapted from similar programs, in particular, the annual tree festival at The Concord Museum.

During the weeklong exhibit, children who participated in a scavenger hunt received a free raffle ticket and could place it an envelope attached to the exhibit they hoped to win. Raffles were also sold. The raffles were drawn at the Open House on Saturday, December 11. All tickets then went into a second raffle that included a family membership to the Burbank YMCA in Reading. Music was provided by violinists Lee and Alexandra Hadden and the North Reading High School Chorus and Band.

Participants were creative in their choice of books, as well as in the materials they used for decorations. Trees ranged from one-foot tabletop tree to ones well over six feet. Favorite children's books were well represented and included, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, The Mitten by Jan Brett, and Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.

Here is a sampling of additional exhibits:

*Friends Fighting Breast Cancer, Inc. decorated a large tree with pink and silver ornaments. They chose the book , The Hope Tree by Laura Numeroff. The group also provided a rack with homemade hats for those undergoing chemotherapy.
*The Masonic Lodge decorated a Da Vinci Code tree with small wooden symbols from the Masons.
*A Junior Girl Scout Troop took inspiration for their tree from the book, Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark by Johanna Hurwitz.
*American Express partnered with SEEM, a special education program at the Middle School, to create a wreath based on Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr and Ronald Himler.
*Dad's Upholstery and Cleaning Service chose Max Cleans Up by Rosemary Wells, placing a small tree in a toy dump truck.
*The library's Young Adult Advisory Board, under the direction of Youth Services Librarian, Christi Showman, decorated a large tree inspired by Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, hanging tiny "books" made out of Styrofoam and covered with paper.
*The library staff decorated a wreath based on Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk with spiders, fireflies, butterflies, and ladybugs made out of fun foam, glitter, and markers.

Here are photographs of the exhibit and Open House: www.flintmemoriallibrary.org/EveryTree.html.