For weeks, copies of books written by the presenting authors at the nowΒ canceled Tucson Festival of Books have been arriving in town, waiting to be discovered by readers and find new homes on book lovers' shelves.
We now know that there won't be a festival this year, as many authors decided not to risk travel to Tucson amid coronavirus concerns. But since there are still plenty of books at the University of Arizona BookStores, 1209 E. University Blvd., the book store is selling them at a 25 percent discount in person or online, from Wednesday until Sunday.Β
The campus book store is the official bookseller of the Tucson Festival of Books. That means the store is responsible for making sure all the new copies of books that you find in multiple festival locationsΒ β including the large sales tents and signing areasΒ β are in stock and available for the festival. It's a job that requires several months of planning and coordinating, and during the festival, the entire bookstores' staff is dedicated to staffing those sales areas and making sure festival-goers can get their hands on the event's heart and soul β the books.Β
So you can imagine that with nearly 350 presenting authors initially scheduled to be part of the 2020 festival, each with several titles under their name, that amounts to a ton of books for adults, children and teens.Β
And now there's no festival.Β
The bookstores' lobby is filled with books written by festival authors, but all in-stock general books will be part of the sale, so you can stock up on books you've been eager to add to your collection, even if they weren't written by a festival author.Β
Plus, the UA is on spring break this week, so finding a place to park on campus will be much easier than when class is in session.Β
The bookstore has canceled a special storytime with Paddington Bear that was initially scheduled for Saturday, March 14.Β
Find store hours and more info here.Β
