For years, passersby stopped on West Pearl to admire the size of a nearly 150-year-old cottonwood tree just past 8th Street.
The beloved cottonwood was a longtime neighborhood landmark, the last of a series of old trees that populated the area. Families once joined hands and stretched their arms around the huge trunk. When the city cut the dying tree down in 2022, it prompted protests. Now, the stump has a second life: A Little Free Library.
The stump’s transformation is thanks largely to resident Chess Piccione, a volunteer for Little Free Library, a nonprofit that works to expand book access and build community through small neighborhood libraries…