Customize util.php > display results of function printChi

Currently, function printChildren creates a list of nested albums on the main gallery page. This is perfect for the site that I'm currently developing because I have a great number (50+) nested albums within each of the three albums in the main gallery. The only issue is that the album trees that are generated by function printChildren are excessively long. I'd like to compact each tree by displaying the nested albums within a multi-column table arranged vertically -- i.e:

nestedAlbum01 nestedAlbum06 nestedAlbum11
nestedAlbum02 nestedAlbum07 nestedAlbum12
nestedAlbum03 nestedAlbum08 nestedAlbum13
nestedAlbum04 nestedAlbum09 nestedAlbum14
nestedAlbum05 nestedAlbum10 nestedAlbum15

I was able to edit albums.php to make room for the nested albums table ( I repositioned the highlight image under the Album title and set the nested album TD width to 60%). So far, I've only edited printChildren (in util.php) to display nested albums within a single column table. I'm having trouble figuring out how to code the logic that will dynamically display the list of nested albums in a multi-column table. I'd be grateful if someone could provide me with a link to a code example, or some pointers on how to achieve this table.