Abingdon Elementary School librarian Michelle Davis has started a “book tree” at her school to increase access to books for students during the pandemic.

At the start of the 2020-2021 school year, Davis noticed that a lot of families were overwhelmed by the pandemic, not always having time to drop by the library to check out a book for their students. Around Halloween 2020, Davis held her first book giveaway by hanging books from the tree near the parent pick-up loop.

“It has some great low branches,” said Davis.

After placing the books in plastic bags, Davis secured the books to the tree by using curling ribbon.

“People can come and choose a book,” said Davis, noting that this has served as a 24-hour option for families and caretakers to take their children to pick a book from the tree.

Davis also wanted to give students a happy surprise by starting the book tree, since the pandemic brought so many scary ones. She now does the book tree four times a year, preceding bre...