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Tacoma Public Library launches Tacoma Reads 2025; Arts Commission awards $100,000 to local artists
Summary
The Tacoma Public Library announced Tacoma Reads 2025 programming and a signature author event; the Tacoma Arts Commission awarded $100,000 through the Tacoma Artist Initiative, and local projects such as the Voices of Tacoma anthology said they received funding.
Tacoma Public Library announced the lineup for Tacoma Reads 2025 and said the program will include book-club events for all ages and a culminating author event on Thursday, Oct. 16, during which Mayor Victoria Woodards will welcome author Valerie Kaur for a conversation and book signing at a venue to be announced.
The library said all Tacoma Reads titles will be available in print, ebook and audiobook formats through the Tacoma Public Library. The city urged readers to visit tacomalibrary.org/tacomareads for schedules and participation details.
Separately, the Tacoma Arts Commission awarded $100,000 to 25 Tacoma-based artists through its Tacoma Artist Initiative program. The commission said each artist will receive $4,000 to create new works and public programming across the city during the 2025–2026 funding period; the programming is to include free public events in a range of disciplines from dance to visual arts.
Burl Battersby, identified in the program as executive editor of Voices of A Gathering of Poets and a community partner for local poetry gatherings, said the project received Tacoma Artist Initiative funding and launched in March 2023. He described regular gatherings with the Tacoma Public Library branches and said the funding supported anthology and community programming work.
Why it matters: Tacoma Reads is the library’s yearlong public-literacy initiative that centers a common reading theme and public events; the Arts Commission funding is a direct city investment in individual artists and community programming that city materials say will expand free cultural offerings across Tacoma.
Organizers and the library provided links and schedules for the public to learn more and to participate.
