A Tree Grows in St. Louis

After buying all your holiday goods at Subterranean (hint! hint!), you may be left wondering what you can give this year that will also benefit the community (not that giving books doesn’t!). Of course, there are a lot of great projects, but here are two of my favorites. The first is the “Tree-Membrance” program in the City. For $125 (trust me, being on bookseller’s salary I know how much that hits the wallet, but it’s a good cause) you can have a shade, flowering, or evergreen tree planted in almost any City park (including the big guy between Skinker and Kingshighway) in honor of anyone or anything. Just think of all the oxygen you’ll provide our beautiful city!

Number two is becoming/giving a gift membership with the St. Louis City Library Foundation. Membership levels generally start at $40, but you can give as much or as little as you want. I don’t need to tell you literate folks what great services the library provides, and St. Louis has two of the best systems in the US in the City and County (which has a similar program here).