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Giant book tree erected at University of Nevada, Reno, for the holidays

Kym Pokorny, The Oregonian By Kym Pokorny, The Oregonian
on December 21, 2012 at 11:15 AM, updated December 21, 2012 at 4:57 PM
KC Book Tree 2012.jpg View full size Alden Kamaunu and Larry Smith take a break after building the 2012 holiday book tree in the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center.  
At 14-feet-tall and an estimated 600 pounds, the giant book tree at Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center University of Nevada, Reno, to is the largest ever built. At least, that's the word from the school.

"Our research librarians were not able to find a book tree this large anywhere else in the world. To the best of our knowledge, we're it," says Maggie Ressel, director of information service at the University Libraries. "Students love it because it has all those old dusty books, like a library, but it's fun and festive at the same time. It's a popular spot for photos."

 The unusual tree was built with copies of the rarely used "National Union Catalog, Pre-1956 Imprints," which were partially chosen because of the festively colored green covers and gold lettering on the spine. They were also going to be recycled.

This year's tree is the second, and about twice the size of the one built in 2011. The project was led by Alden Kamaunu, who recruited library technician Larry Smith to help design and build the 600-book tree.

"It may look simple enough, but most book trees look like pyramids. We wanted ours to look like a real tree. There was a lot of trial and error."

The tree is located in the atrium inside the main entrance of the Knowledge Center and will remain up until early January 2013. See a time-lapse video of the tree being built.

-- Kym Pokorny
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