It's the season of giving for Tucson book organizations

Santa will no doubt be sleeping late this Christmas Day — he had a long night, after all — but the jolly old soul will be happy to learn he had lots of help from the book community of Tucson this year.

At its meeting last week, the board of directors at the Tucson Festival of Books approved a grant of $50,000 to Literacy Connects to help fund its Reading Seed program.

The University of Arizona Bookstore began delivering the 1,300 books it has collected in a year-end book drive benefiting Make Way for Books.

The bookstore also announced it will resume its popular “Storytime” series for kids beginning Jan. 7.

Together, these three initiatives will touch more than 10,000 Tucson children this coming year.

Happy holidays!

The largest present under the tree was the book festival grant to Literacy Connects. It will help underwrite Reading Seed, a program that sends community volunteers into Tucson-area grade schools to introduce the joys of reading.

All book festival grants are made possible by those who take part in the festival, Executive Director Melanie Morgan said.

“Everyone who works on the festival and everyone who comes to the festival had a hand in this donation,” she explained. “We should all feel good about what we are doing for the children of Tucson.”

Morgan said book festival revenue comes primarily from sponsorships, donations and exhibitor fees, all of which are based on attendance. In the 13 years since it began, the festival has attracted some 1.25 million people. It has now donated almost $2.5 million to literacy projects in Tucson.

The UA Bookstore, meanwhile, began delivering books it collected in a year-end book drive for Make Way for Books on North Stone Avenue.

“At last count, we had collected around 1,300 books, and we began taking them to Make Way last week,” said Yadhi Acevedo, community outreach manager for the store.

The store asked patrons to donate new or lightly used children’s books in a campaign that began Nov. 14.

“It’s really an easy way to give, and a great way to teach kids about giving,” Acevedo said. “Lots of our children have books they loved but have now outgrown. A kindergartner can give a present to a kid he or she doesn’t even know.”

The UA Bookstore offered deep discounts on all children’s books in November and December, encouraging patrons to buy a book and drop it in the box headed to Make Way.

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The children’s book drive is a tradition the bookstore began in 2015, with the grand total of donated books now totaling 30,000.

Storytime had been a monthly fixture at the store for years until COVID became the story in 2020.

“Because of the pandemic, we haven’t been able to do storytime for a long time,” Acevedo said. “It’s always been hugely popular and a lot of fun. We can’t wait to get this going again.”

Storytimes will resume Jan. 7 with programs at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the store. The featured guest will be Paddington, with readings and activities connecting to the Paddington books authored by Michael Bond.

“Each month we pick a book and outfit a character to help us talk about it,” Acevedo said. “We’ll play games and do crafts. Kids can have their pictures taken with the characters. Parents are welcome to join them.”

Until the program was suspended in March 2020, storytimes generally attracted 75 to 125 children a month.

The UA Bookstore, along with most other units on campus, will be closed this week due to the holiday break. The bookstore will re-open Jan. 3.

Footnotes

Tucson lost another of its most articulate voices last week. Tom Miller, best-known for his exploration of life in Latin America and Cuba, died Monday, Dec. 19, at the age of 75.

Miller was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease six years ago. He suffered a broken hip in September and never got home. He died of complications from the fall.

He had lived in Tucson since 1969, when he arrived sight unseen — without a place to stay or a way to make a living. He became one of the first freelance reporters to understand the complexity of life along the border. His stories appeared frequently in The New York Times.

Miller later authored 12 books, most notably “The Panama Hat Trail,” “Cuba Hot and Cold” and “On the Border.” He self-published a memoir, “Where Was I?” last spring.

His death came less than three weeks after Tucson lost another its longtime literary stars, poet Richard Shelton. Shelton died Nov. 29 at the age of 89. Plans have not yet been finalized, but a program honoring him has been scheduled for the evening of March 4 at the Poetry Center.