How I maximize my book festival experience as a librarian, mom, aspiring author, and deeply committed bookworm
You know what my dream job would be, other than the ones I have (school librarian and mom), the one I aim to have someday (published author), and several I abandoned after I realized I didn’t have what it took (e.g. Broadway star)?
A book festival travel agent slash tour guide slash connoisseur.
I’m pretty sure that job doesn’t actually exist, but if it does and you’re hiring, HEY, I’M RIGHT HERE, PICK ME.
With more than a decade of experience dating back to its first year in 2009, I’m a self-proclaimed, bonafide expert at navigating one of the biggest book festivals in the country, the Tucson Festival of Books, or TFOB (tee-fob) as some of us affectionately call it when we’re too lazy to speak or type out the full name.
Alphabetically by last name (because, um, librarian), these are a few of the authors I’ve met at the Festival over the years to give you a sense of what a big deal TFOB is: Alexandra Bracken (The Darkest Minds), Gail Carson Levine (Ella Enchanted), Lois Lowry (The Giver), Marie Lu (Legend), Marissa Meyer (Cinder), Daniel Nayeri (Everything Sad Is Untrue), LeUyen Pham (Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn), Sabaa Tahir (All My Rage), Luis Alberto Urrea (The Devil’s Highway), Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese).
To clarify, in case you didn’t see Urrea tucked into that list, the festival covers all genres, age ranges, and categories of books. It’s just that the children’s/YA authors are often the highlights for me as a high school librarian, mom to young kids, and nostalgic lifelong reader.
Most years I’d need a literal Time Turner just to get to all the author panels and signings I want to attend during the festival weekend, and I’d have to use the Time Turner a dangerous number of times to also hit all the great booths, performances, professional development sessions, children’s activities, and other happenings the festival has to offer. There are so many ways to enjoy TFOB, but not nearly enough time to do all the things over the two-day weekend it runs.
And well, I’ve yet to receive my letter to Hogwarts, much less a Time Turner, so I’ve settled for developing some tried-and-true Muggle strategies to maximize my time at TFOB while still keeping it fun.
Here are my best tips, both reasonable and borderline bananas, for getting the most out of the Tucson Festival of Books.
My Best Book Fest Tips
Make a plan ahead of time.
Good:
Check out the schedule ahead of time and discover a few authors/panels you might want to see. The schedule of author panels is posted on the festival website a few months beforehand, so you’ll have plenty of time. You can toggle your view of the schedule to see just the events in your favorite genres and categories. You can also star the ones you might want to attend to create a printable version of all your book festival hopes and dreams.
Better:
For the most popular panels, reserve Fast Passes ahead of time to get access to a venue 20 minutes before the panel starts so you can claim the best seats. These are free and become available a week or two before TFOB for Friends of the Festival and a few days before for the general public.
Best:
Create a spreadsheet with your top 2-3 choices for every single time slot so if you’re not feeling one or it fills up, you can hop over to another. Yes, I do this every year. I am a proud nerd and you can’t stop me.
Plan out your down time.
Good:
Bring lunch and snacks so you don’t have to interrupt your bliss to take care of human needs (except, you know). Wander the tents and Science City in your down time.
Better:
Bring snacks, but also give yourself a small window of time to enjoy and support one of the local food offerings. Load up on fun swag while interacting with friendly book people at all the tents.
Best:
Obtain a map of the tents and check out every single tent like it’s a blackout bingo game. Learn all the things. Get all the swag. Buy too many books. Make new bookish friends.
Dress appropriately.
Good:
Wear comfortable clothing and bring layers. In Tucson, it’s usually already warm in March, but the A/C is blasting in the classrooms where the panels are held. And big heads up to my fellow T-locs, the weather forecast is showing rain and temperatures in the 50’s for Saturday, so unleash the parkas!
Better:
All of the above, but with your favorite bookish clothing.
Best:
All of the above, plus buy some festival merch to wear next year! TFOB has a new logo each year of an animal native to the Sonoran Desert made up of tiny letters. This year, it’s bats. Previous years’ mascots have included Gila monsters, tarantulas, coyotes, javelinas, and Gambel’s quails.
Check out an author panel.
Good:
Show up, find a seat, and soak it in! It’s such a treat to hear about a writer’s process and sometimes they let slip something about a future project.
Better:
Take notes (especially if you’re a writer!) and ask questions at the end. Then, scurry on over to the designated signing area to get your books signed.
Best:
Bring your preferred writing materials (notebook and pen, laptop, etc.) so you’ll have what you need to write if (when) you feel inspired afterward!
Get your books signed.
Good:
Bring a copy of a book by an author you like who will be presenting. The UA Bookstore, Bookmans, and several indie publishing houses have books on sale for you if you forget.
Better:
Get a book signed by an author as a gift for a loved one. That said, the most popular authors sometimes have a limit of signing 1-3 books per person, so plan accordingly.
Best:
Deep dive into the list of presenting authors as soon as it releases in December and read as many of their books as you can before the festival. Max out your library and Libby holds in the attempt. Eschew all social gatherings. Read until you rot. Why? So you don’t live the rest of your life with regrets (looking at you, Firekeeper’s Daughter and Angeline Boulley).
Drink water.
Good:
Every time you see a drinking fountain, drink water.
Better:
Bring a water bottle. Drink water.
Best:
Bring a water bottle. Drink water. Refill. Repeat. (And maybe pick up some fun bookish stickers for your water bottle as you browse the booths.)
Seriously, don’t mess around with this one. Also, sunscreen. Trust.
Bonus Tip for Parents
Bring your kids.
Good:
Explore the children’s area with your kids. Swing by the kids’ and/or teens’ free book tent. Don’t forget to check out Science City, too!
Better:
Stop by the Storytime Blanket for a read-aloud by a favorite author or character. Take photos of your kid with one of the lovable characters wandering around (we once accosted Daniel Tiger in an alleyway and my then-two-year-old was starstruck).
Best:
Have your kids dress as a favorite book character. Bring your kids to a kids’ workshop or panel. Wait in line with them to meet a favorite author and/or illustrator and get their books signed.
Actual Best:
Also carve out some time just for you. I’m obsessed with my children, but I can’t truly enjoy an author panel while in active parenting mode.
Bonus Tips for Teachers
Connect it to your classroom.
Good:
Visit some booths to learn about potential field trips and other amazing opportunities for your students. (And stock up on all the free pencils and whatnot for your classroom, am I right?)
Better:
Attend a panel that supports your teaching and get PD credit while you’re at it! In previous years, I believe any panel designated as a children or teen panel qualified and volunteers inside the ground level of the Education building would give you a stamp for each one you attended and then a certificate adding up the accumulated hours. (I could be wrong; I have more PD hours than I know what to do with, so I haven’t followed through with the stamping in a few years!)
Best:
Bring all your shiny new ideas (and book recs) back to the classroom, of course!
Make some bookish magic for your students.
Good:
Encourage your students and colleagues to attend! Request free marketing materials (e.g. posters, bookmarks) and distribute them widely.
Better:
Create a book festival scavenger hunt or challenge that students can complete for a prize or extra credit. (If I ever make one, I’ll share it here. And if you try this, can you share it with me?)
Best:
Coordinate a school visit or student-led author interview of a festival author! Authors are sometimes willing to be a guest speaker at schools for free or a reduced fee if you can snag them the day before or after the festival. Also, the Pima County Public Library makes some magic happen each year that allows our school (and other middle and high schools in the county) the opportunity to interview a bestselling author at the Tucson Festival of Books. Each year, I coach a small group of students through the process of preparing good interview questions and then they conduct a professional, recorded interview onsite at the Festival. It’s a highlight of my school year every year. (My students are interviewing Nic Stone this year and I’m beside myself.)
My Book Fest Experience Wishlist
There are two major book festival experiences I can’t yet speak to, but hope to in the future.
The first is very attainable: volunteering! While I’ve volunteered at my school district’s booth some years, I haven’t yet been an official TFOB volunteer.
The perks of volunteering include:
- Creating a magical experience for the more than 100,000 people that attend the Tucson Festival of Books each year
- Meeting like-minded, bookish people
- Being an author’s temporary bestie (well, festival tour guide, but you can pretend)
- A snazzy neon volunteer t-shirt
The second is more lofty: I’d love to moderate an author panel. After facilitating more than 10 high-profile author interviews with high school students over the years, I think I’d crush it.
Would I fangirl hard? Yes, of course. But listen, I would fangirl offstage in an appropriately subdued and not too creepy manner, before conducting myself with the utmost poise and aplomb. Probably.
TFOB Need to Know
The Tucson Festival of Books is happening March 15-16, 2025 from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM each day on the University of Arizona campus. Panels start at 10:00 and run roughly hourly until about 5:00 PM each day. With hundreds of authors and over 100,000 attendees each year, it’s one of the largest book festivals in the country. The event is free, but parking is $10 (no cash) or public transportation is available. Accessibility information can be found here. A mobile app is available for Apple and Android to help you navigate the festival.
Have you ever been to the Tucson Festival of Books or another book festival? What are your best tips for making the most of it? If you’ve never been and this post inspires you to check it out, please report back!
paige in the library 