Tucson Tome Gnome

Founded by three friends in 2021, the Tucson Tome Gnome runs a monthly bookish scavenger hunt. Every month, we select a book and hide 45 copies of it all over Tucson and Pima County for our friends and neighbors to find. We then ask people to read, enjoy, and rehide their found book for the next person to discover. Through our monthly book hiding and bookish scavenger hunts, we aim to spread joy and build community and connectedness through random acts of kindness, while also providing a person who finds a book with an opportunity to read something new that could broaden their horizons, give them insight into a perspective that may not be their own, or just escape the stress of their daily life.

In addition to our monthly book hiding, we also engage with our community via partnerships and collaborations. We co-host a “Solutions-Focused Community Book Club” (in partnership with the Tucson Spotlight and the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona), which brings 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! Through the book club, we connect, learn from each other, and build momentum toward positive change. Since launching the book club in June 2023, we typically engage with 20-30 participants at each meeting. And finally, we also collaborate with local businesses and other nonprofits in Tucson on events that create book joy for older teens and adults - sharing and hiding books at various community events throughout Tucson