Twelve Trees of Christmas Page #2

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triple what it is now.

Yeah, but I wouldn't even

want to live here anymore.

Oh, come on.

See, now you're just being sentimental.

I grew up in that building.

You did?

Yeah.

My father wrote his

doctorial thesis there.

And he used to take me with him.

It was amazing.

Everyday we'd walk through

those doors together,

into this magical land filled with...

filled with everything

in the whole world.

It's where I learned to love books.

And reading.

It's the greatest

gift my father gave me.

And I think that every

child in this neighborhood

should experience that feeling.

Kids these days, they

get everything online.

Yeah, but it's not the same.

You can read Dickens on an e-book,

you get the words, but...

you're missing the music.

Cheri, life is about change.

You can't stop it.

Charles Dickens would agree with me.

Charles Dickens would

never tear down a library.

Look, I gotta tell you, there's nothing

that you can do to stop this.

I'm sorry.

Well, you don't know me very well.

I'm not letting this go.

Hold on a second...

Your job is secure, but

I wouldn't do anything

to jeopardize that.

If there's no Shaughnessy Library,

then I don't have a job.

I've got to try to save this.

I'm going to prove to

you how wrong you are.

Trust me, I've thought about this

and this is a very good idea.

Hold on a second...

We don't start bull-dozing

until the new year.

At least you have Christmas.

How very generous of

you, Ebenezer Scrooge.

You know, maybe when

you finish counting all

of your gold coins, you can come down

to the library on Christmas Eve.

That's when we distribute all of

the toys that have been donated.

The fire department

even brings Santa Claus.

You can see firsthand

how important we are

to this community.

And witness the joy on

the children's faces.

And then crush all of their

dreams when you announce

your great plan to

demolish their sanctuary

of imagination, knowledge and art.

For a condo.

Goodnight.

SLAM!

Ugh!

Sigh

He thinks the library is

just this archaic old building

filled with recyclable papers,

and I bet, he doesn't even recycle.

The problem is he never really

spent a lot of time here.

Or, in the neighborhood for that matter.

Yeah.

Private school.

The point is he doesn't

know what this building means

to an entire generation of people.

I mean, everything I know about art

and literature and

music, I learned here.

I would be a completely different person

if it weren't for this building.

Yet he does have a point.

eBooks are taking over

and most kids these days

haven't even heard of an encyclopedia,

much less opened one.

And with Google, why should they?

Okay, the internet can add to the mix,

but you're never going to be able

to replace physical books.

I mean...

You need to be able to see

and touch and hold and even

smell a book to get the

whole reading experience.

Too bad you can't convince

Tony Shaughnessy of that.

I know.

I still can't believe his grandmother

would let him tear it down.

She used to love this place.

I wonder if she still does.

Well, of course I'll miss it.

Not just the apartment,

but the whole neighborhood.

And you're just going to give

it up for a warmer climate?

I didn't come to this

easily, but you know,

I wake up every day and I look

for the sun dancing on the ceiling.

The neighbor's cat on the windowsill,

and that smiling face in the kitchen.

And Christmas' in Galway.

You know, when I was a young girl.

And they've all gone.

Everything just gets lost to time.

And anyway, the future

belongs to the next generation.

But you and your husband

created this neighborhood.

I mean, you have a legacy.

There's not many

people who can say that.

You know, it was my idea to convert

the mansion into the library.

My husband was convinced

that it was his idea,

but it really wasn't.

I knew it took a woman to think of that.

Turned out pretty well, didn't it?

It certainly did.

Yeah, I know...

It's just a wonderful place.

It's just so full of

promise and potential.

Cheri, I'd do anything

to save it if I could.

But you're the head of

the Shaughnessy Foundation.

The final decision is yours.

And I've decided.

Tony's been working on

this project for years,

and I'm not going to

take it away from him.

I'm sorry, lamb,

but family is more

important on this one.

That looks great.

Oh, dude, awesome.

Hey, Cheri!

Coming to check on us?

Well, I heard we had quite a bunch

of talented artists down here.

I hope I'm not interrupting.

Of course not. We're happy to show off.

Deirdre, how are things at the gallery?

Busy.

I feel like I live there,

but I had to sneak away

for these guys.

I just got my first real Christmas tree,

and as I was decorating it,

I thought how a Christmas

tree is a representation -

not just of the holiday

- but of our lives.

You know, each one tells

a story of who we are.

Are you okay?

I think I just had an a-ha moment.

Hello.

Thank you everyone for turning out

for the annual Shaughnessy

Library Toy Drive.

For those of you who don't know me,

I'm Cheri Jamison.

I'm the children's librarian here.

Actually, looking around,

most of you look familiar.

Which means you're

regulars. So, this year,

we are going to shake

things up a little bit.

We're going to have a contest.

A Christmas tree decorating contest.

And we want everyone

to decorate their tree

based on the theme

what the Shaughnessy

Library means to me.

Which means you could pick anything

- a literary theme,

or you could choose to decorate a tree

which represents something

that you've learnt here.

Maybe a skill, or a

craft, or even a language.

It's totally up to you.

We will assign you a tree

and then on Christmas Eve -

along with the toy drive

- we will light up

all of the trees and

then the night will end

at seven o'clock with the judging.

Okay!

Are there any questions?

How many trees will there be?

Twelve.

And they'll be displayed

in the banquet room.

Uh, I just heard a

rumor that they're going

to tear down the library.

Well, that's why this

contest is so great.

It will be an opportunity

for us to show the community

how important the

library is to all of us.

The rumors are true.

There hasn't been an

official announcement yet,

but the Shaughnessy Library

is as of now scheduled

to be shut down and raised.

What?

We're hoping for a miracle.

At least if we go, we

go in a blaze of glory.

That's right.

And there will be prizes

for all of the winners.

Bette and I will also

be decorating trees,

but don't worry, the staff is not a part

of the official competition.

Do you think this will really work?

I don't know, but that's

why this is so important.

We all love the library.

We can't just stand by

and watch it be destroyed.

Um...

Okay, so, uh, this

is the sign-up sheet.

If you could put your name

and contact information

and the theme of your

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