Ashlyn Brigges, center, looks at “You’d Be Home Now” by Kathleen Glasgow inside the University of Arizona BookStores booth at the Tucson Festival of Books on the UA campus on Sunday.

 Rebecca Sasnett photos, Arizona Daily Star

After navigating through the pandemic for two years, the Tucson Festival of Books made its way back to the University of Arizona campus for its 14th year, drawing in its usual large crowd.

Since 2009, TFOB has contributed over $2,000,000 to agencies that improve literacy in the community. This year, the festival included 267 presenting authors that represented over 15 genres.

After a two-year hiatus, Melanie Morgan, the executive director of TFOB, said she was not sure how many people to expect, given the pandemic, but the festival was as full as it has ever been. The festival typically sees 140,000 people over the two days.

“Everyone is so happy to be back,” Morgan said. “We’re all working together, and everyone seems to be having a great festival.”

Sue Labuda, who has been to TFOB every year, brought her grandson to the festival on Sunday to watch some Irish dancing. She said it was so nice to be back, and they were excited to visit Science City, which included 24 STEM-based exhibitions and activities.

Aside from the large crowds, Morgan said she had also seen many people walk around with books in hand. She said she had been hearing great things from vendors about the traffic they have been getting and the numbers of sales.

A post-pandemic crowd at the Tucson Festival of Books was as big as the crowds in previous years.

This year’s festival seemed to have one common theme: people were happy to be back to normal.

“I am so thrilled we were able to be in person,” Morgan said. “Being able to actually see others and be with the crowds is just amazing.”

This year was the first year at TFOB for Brie Chillious, a children’s librarian. In 2020, Chillious was supposed to moderate for an event in the children’s section of the festival. Unfortunately, the festival ended up getting canceled that year.

“I’m happy to be here two years later, Chillious said. “I’m hoping to see a children’s author walking around and tell them I’ve read their books during story time.”

Most of all, Morgan was happy to see the community gather together and enjoy the festival.

“For me, the board of directors and all of the people planning it, it’s a gift to the community,” Morgan said. “To see the community coming and enjoying it, interacting with the authors in the sessions and out here with the vendors and entertainers really makes a huge difference for me.”

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