Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tucson Tome Gnome. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Tucson Tome Gnome, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
The Tucson Tome Gnome’s mission is to bolster a culture and community that is united in the joy of reading by providing free books to inspire literacy, reading, empathy, kindness, and happiness.
The Tucson Tome Gnome started as a small community book “hiding and sharing” initiative in 2021. The idea was cooked up over dinner between the three co-founders (Emily Walsh, Jody Hardy, and Mary Ellen Flynn) in July of 2021. The pandemic was such a difficult time, and it was important for us to put our energy into something positive to help us get through it. We agreed that we wanted to share some kindness and delight with our community here in Tucson. Since we all love books, we decided that we wanted to hide surprise books around our community for our friends and neighbors to find – a bookish random act of kindness. As we brainstormed how to make it all happen, we also decided that it was important for us to focus on bringing joy and delight specifically to adult readers. Each of us has people in our lives who enjoyed reading when they were younger but had given it up when “grown-up” responsibilities took over. After scanning the landscape of literacy-promoting initiatives, projects, and nonprofits, it became clear that creating “book joy for adults” was something that was largely missing in the literacy community. So it became our mission to fill that gap!
In September 2021 we decided to buy 30 copies of one of our favorite books (“The House in the Cerulean Sea” by NYT best-selling author TJ Klune), put a bookmark, sticker, and bow on them, and hide them all around town for people to find. And so began the adventures of the Tucson Tome Gnome! Since launching in September 2021, we have continued to hide books around Tucson (and in the immediate surrounding areas) on a monthly basis. Our local community has been incredibly supportive, helping us meet our annual fundraising goals and providing us with ongoing encouragement and feedback. We also received some amazing surprise support from TJ Klune, the author of the first book we shared! With the combined support of our community and TJ, who joined us as a founding board member, we became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the spring of 2023!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As we shared, one of the key components of our mission – and something that sets us apart from so many other literacy organizations – is our focus on creating book joy for older teens and adults. Additionally, the Tucson Tome Gnome passionately stands against book bans and book censorship, and we strongly believe in the importance of reading diversely. Free people read freely. This informs a big part of how we decide which books to share with our community. We take pride in choosing books and stories that will potentially expose readers to people, places, cultures, themes, and messages that they may not otherwise experience in their own daily lives. We’ve found that escaping into a story is a fun and beautiful way to gain empathy and understanding of new ideas and lifestyles that might not be part of our own “day-to-day” lives. We’re very purposeful in choosing books that support diverse reading. We select books with inclusive messaging and books authored by members of marginalized communities.
As such, the Tome Gnome serves as Tucson’s first Book Sanctuary. As a book sanctuary, we are committed to:
1. Collecting and protecting endangered books.
2. Making those books broadly accessible (book hiding, anyone?).
3. Hosting book talks and events, including sparking conversations about diverse characters and stories.
4. Educating others on the history of book censorship.
Given that most of the recent attempts at book censorship nationwide have targeted non-white and LGBTQIAP+ authors and subjects, we actively support those communities and perspectives. When sharing books (whether via our monthly book hiding or at events), we ensure that at least 50%-75% of the books hidden/selected for the event represent non-white or LGBTQIAP+ authors.
In fact, since our launch in September 2021, we have hidden approximately 1,150 books throughout the greater Tucson area and Pima County (as of September 2023). This includes our monthly book-hiding as well as book-hiding/book-sharing events. These books represent ~70 unique titles and authors and a variety of genres, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and books in translation. As of September 2023, approximately 80% of the titles we’ve shared over the past two years are by nonwhite and/or LGBTQIAP+ authors, which we’re really proud of. And when looking at our total count of hidden books, we’ve hidden far more by volume/count of books – approximately 87% by nonwhite and/or LGBTQIAP+ authors – with our community. As we stated earlier, given that many of the recent nationwide book banning and censorship attempts have targeted non-white and LGBTQIAP+ authors and subjects, we are proud to actively support those communities and perspectives – and share these important stories with our community.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
As we shared earlier, Tucson Tome Gnome was started by three co-founders – Mary Ellen Flynn, Jody Hardy, and Emily Walsh. Emily initially met Jody when she joined a book club at a local independent bookstore in Tucson – Mostly Books. Jody and Emily hit it off, and when Mostly Books started a Young Adult Book Club for adult readers, she was in.
Flash forward (a year or two later?) and Emily was at work chatting with a colleague (Mary Ellen!) about books, and it turned out that Mary Ellen was reading the YA book club’s next selection! So Emily invited her to join their meeting. After bonding over a shared love of books for several years, the trio then reconnected for dinner in 2021 and cooked up the idea for the Tucson Tome Gnome.
In 2023, we added a fourth founder to the mix – New York Times best-selling author TJ Klune. TJ’s “The House in the Cerulean Sea” was the first book we ever hid back in September 2021 – it’s one of our favorite books. Through chance and circumstance (and luck!), TJ discovered our first GoFundMe campaign in early 2022 and ensured that we met our goal. He’s since been a committed supporter of our work and officially joined us as a founding board member of our nonprofit corporation in 2023. The rest, as they say, is history!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
A big part of our mission is creating book joy through random acts of kindness. Rooting our business model in sharing random acts of bookish kindness certainly helped build momentum and a positive reputation within the community (who doesn’t want to find a free book that has been offered to the community just to create a little spark of joy?). Thus, a big part of our reputation comes from the positive experiences folks in the community have had after finding a free hidden book or attending one of our community collaboration events where we have hidden free books for attendees.
Additionally, from the beginning, we have been committed to maintaining a strong and consistent online presence via our social media (Instagram and Facebook) and our website/blog (tucsontomegnome.com), where we share regular updates about hidden books, upcoming events, etc. Social media certainly has a steep learning curve, but we have kept at it and remained consistent – seeking to engage with (and build) community online. Through consistent and regular posting, we have connected with many amazing local businesses and other organizations who have supported us via partnerships and collaborations. Through these events and activities with partners, we have been able to cross-promote and increase our following.
We’ve done book & beer pairing nights at a local brewery, hidden books at our local LGBTQIAP+ Glitter Ball, participated in a “throwback book fair,” and partnered with a local boba tea shop on a summer reading launch! One such collaboration that has taken on a life of its own is our “Solutions Focused Community Book Club”, launched in partnership with Caitlin Schmidt of The Tucson Agenda and the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona. This book club aims to bring together interested community members from all walks of life to bond over a shared desire to make our community better for all – and be inspired by a shared reading experience! We aim to connect community members to discuss books, learn from each other, and build momentum toward positive change. In short, collaborative events have been incredibly fun AND mutually beneficial!
Finally, our reputation and brand have been boosted by the media coverage we’ve been honored to receive. Several months into launching the Tome Gnome (when we weren’t sure if we would be able to keep it going), a local reporter with #ThisIsTucson (an extremely popular online media outlet about all things Tucson) reached out to write a piece about us. That early support gave us the boost – and confidence – to keep going! As a result of some of that coverage, we were able to get connected with New York Times best-selling author TJ Klune, who has since joined us as a founding board member of the nonprofit. His public support, as well as the regular media coverage from local and national outlets – including an exclusive feature on NBC’s The TODAY Show in early May 2023 – have helped us continue to grow our reputation and following over the two years since we launched!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tucsontomegnome.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tucsontomegnome/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tucsontomegnome