Organizers for the Tucson Festival of Books met in the UofA Bookstore yesterday morning to celebrate the success of last year’s event and share their expectations for this year.

Bruce Beach and Brenda Viner, two of the organizers and founders of the festival, said the event raised $200,000 for Literacy for Life Coalition, Reading Seed and the UA.

This past spring, the UA hosted the first the Tucson Festival of Books. About 900 volunteers helped run the event and more than 50,000 people attended. Organizers say they hope the festival will have more authors and attendees this year. The second annual Tucson Festival of Books will take place March 13 and 14 on the UA Mall.

Some of the sponsors of the event include the Arizona Daily Star, the UA, University Medical Center, UofA Bookstores, Pima County Public Library and Tucson Medical Center.

The UA is excited to partner in the event, said Melissa Vito, vice president of student affairs, adding that the event showed that people do have an interest in the UA for reasons other than sports.

“”Last year it was planning and visualizing, and this year we can look back and know what it was and imagine even bigger things,”” she said. “”I think the Tucson Festival of Books proved that there is an enormous interest in literacy and learning and reading and culture in this community.””

The Diamond Children’s Medical Center will be the presenting sponsor for this year’s festival.

“”Literacy is so critical to our community and especially the children of our community,”” said Greg Pivirotto, president and CEO of University Medical Center.

Arizona has one of highest high school dropout rates in country, which may relate to literacy problems, Beach said.

More than 400 authors participated in last year’s festival for workshops, lectures, book signings and interviews.      

Viner said after attending a book festival in Los Angeles she thought it would be a good idea to do something similar in Tucson.

She said the UA was the perfect location for the festival.

“”It’s the intellectual hub of the community,”” she said.

Paying for the event this year will be easier because last year the organizers did not have a budget and had to raise funds independently, she said.

Frank Farias, assistant vice president of student affairs and executive director of bookstores, said he hopes to get some international participation in the festival, especially from Mexico because of its proximity to Tucson.

“”I planted the seed and now I’m trying to get others to cultivate it,”” he said.