It’s been a while since we’ve shared a general update, so here we are! Read on for information on the folks who won our recent fundraising gift bundles, an update on when we’ll select winners for our final two gifted book sets (signed special editions from TJ Klune!), and learn about a few fun events that we have coming up!

First things first: a week ago Friday, we used a random number generator to select two folks from our fabulous list of $100+ donors to our 2024 fundraiser. We are excited to share that Max McCauslin and Erika Plante both won a bundle of amazing goodies donated to us by the UA Poetry Center and $50 gift cards donated by Bookmans! Congratulations to them both (and huge thanks to them for providing such generous support to our 2024 fundraiser!!!).

Erika has been a regular participant in our monthly book hiding (if you follow us on Instagram, you might recognize her adorable dog, Minker!), and Max has been making incredibly generous donations to us regularly for a while now – – – so we were thrilled to see both their numbers pop up! As a small nonprofit, we don’t have a lot of ways to say “thank you” beyond shouting it from the “virtual” rooftops. So, thank you to all of you who’ve donated so far, and special thanks this week to Erika for participating in our regular book hunts, posting photos on social media, and sharing/rehiding books (and donating as well, of course!) and Max for his ongoing generous donations and amazing support over these past few years! Sending you all love and gratitude!

Other winners of our gifts these past few months have included Kathy Wilson (book bundle donated by Mostly Books and two donated tickets to Reveille Men’s Chorus’ holiday show) and Tommy Tronsdal (gift basket FULL of books and bookish goodies donated by Bookmans). Again, we are overflowing with gratitude for the folks who have donated to our campaign so far, and the businesses who donated these lovely gifts for us to share with you ❤

We are so grateful to all of you for your ongoing support of our work. We are so close to meeting our fundraising goal (only $828 to go – AHHH!!!). If you’ve been holding off on donating, will you consider making a gift to help us cross the finish line? Once we meet our goal, we will randomly select two final winners from our $100+ donors to each win one of two AMAZING book bundles (signed special editions) donated by TJ Klune from his personal collection (Bundle 1 and Bundle 2). Wouldn’t you love to win one of these sets?

DONATE NOW ❤

And now, we want to make sure all of you know about a few upcoming events:

First, one week from today (on Saturday, February 24), we will be hiding ten books (all by local Arizona authors) AND hosting a table at #ThisIsTucson’s “Tucson Together” market. We will have Tome Gnome MERCH printed by our friends at Cream!!! So, if you’ve been eagerly awaiting your chance to snag a Tome Gnome tote, button, or special edition sticker, come by and see us. Supplies are limited, so these will be available on a first-come/first-buy basis 🙂 We’ll also be accepting donations in person as well. Thank you to our friends at #ThisIsTucson for sponsoring the book hiding and donating the table space for us to participate!

Second, coming up on March 9-10, the Tome Gnome’s helpers will be moderating several panels at the Tucson Festival of Books! Make a plan to come see us and say “hi!” at these sessions:

Saturday:

• Ink and Emotion, Modern Languages 250, Saturday, 10:00 am to 11:00 am
  • Authors: Melissa Broder, Elizabeth McKenzie, Steven Rowley
  • Moderator: Emily Walsh
• Badass Women with Badass Heroines, Student Union Santa Rita, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
  • Authors: Margot Douaihy, Etaf Rum, Sarah Tomlinson
  • Moderator: Emily Walsh
• The Missing Piece, Modern Languages Room 350, Saturday, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
  • Authors: Angie Kim, Nancy Jooyoun Kim, Jean Kwok
  • Moderator: Jody Hardy
• All in the Family, Student Union Tucson Room, Saturday, 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
  • Authors: Byron Lane, Elizabeth McKenzie, J. Ryan Stradal
  • Moderator: Mary Ellen Flynn
• Love in the Time of Monsters, UA Bookstore, Saturday, 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
  • Authors: Isabel Cañas, Tracy Wolff, and TJ Klune
  • Moderator: Jody Hardy

Sunday:

• Pages and Partners: Navigating the Writer’s Life Together, Modern Languages Room 350, Sunday, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
  • Authors: Steven Rowley, Byron Lane, Keir Graff, Linda Joffe Hull
  • Moderator: Emily Walsh

Finally, on March 14 from 5:30-7:30pm, we’ll co-host our next Solutions-Focused Community Book Club along with Caitlin Schmidt from the Tucson Agenda and the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona. This is one you don’t want to miss 🔥 We’ll be reading FIRE WEATHER by John Vaillant, and will open with a short panel discussion with some local climate justice experts. We will undoubtedly have a great conversation about all things wildfire, climate change, and environmental justice. You’ll also have a chance to see John speak at the upcoming Tucson Festival of Books the weekend before our book club (March 9-10!), so the timing is perfect.

If you haven’t joined us for a prior book club meeting, fear not! All are welcome to attend (and it’s free)! There will be snacks, drinks, a book-swap table (bring a gently used book or two, and take a book home!), and lots of good discussion prompts. The book club aims to bring together interested community members from all walks of life to bond over – and be inspired by – a shared reading experience! We are excited to connect, learn from each other, and build momentum toward positive change in our community. You can learn more and RSVP here!

WHEW. This was a long post. But we had a lot of exciting updates to share! We hope to see you at one of these upcoming events – we love meeting folks in person ❤