Literacy Connects LOVES the Tucson Festival of Books!
In raising the visibility of literacy and reading, the annual two-day festival brings the community together to celebrate the magic and power of words. It gives fans and aspiring writers of all ages a chance to meet and speak with their favorite authors. It is helping create a growing culture of literacy in Southern Arizona and a shared understanding of literacy’s importance to the life, health and future of all our citizens.
Since the beginning, the Festival’s support has fostered collaborations between literacy organizations across Southern Arizona – including the five that merged in 2011 to become Literacy Connects.
Thanks to financial support from the Festival over the years, tens of thousands of Tucsonans have received literacy services. At Literacy Connects alone, 7,500 children learned to love reading with the support of a Reading Seed coach, 4,500 adults learned the literacy skills they need to support themselves and their families, 13,000 original stories were written by elementary students, and 165,000 books were given to children in need!
This year, the Festival gave Literacy Connects the opportunity to share our story in a variety of ways:
- Our partnership with KVOA collected 1,000 books to give to needy children.
- Our Reading Seed staff and volunteers got to show their creativity in providing a Paper Bag Book Making activity for kids and families.
- Our Stories That Soar! troupe performed original stories to a standing-room-only crowd of children and adults.
- Our Literacy Connects community of learners and volunteers got to share their stories and recruit new volunteers.
Thank you, Tucson Festival of Books – for your support of Literacy Connects, and for spreading the message that Tucson is a community that cares about literacy!
