The First Tampa International Book Fair (TIBF) was held at the Ybor City Cuban Club with the aim of promoting reading among children and young people.
The literary event, which also became a space for writers and readers to interact, was attended by a delegation of the Cuban Book Chamber, who developed an intense program.
The city that José Martí made his home on more than twenty occasions and from where he sent, twisted in a cigar, the order for the uprising in the Necessary War; was dressed up from March 7 to 10, with this fair, which allowed to make visible different literary genres and promote collaborations between publishers.
The initiative honored the figure of the "tobacco shop reader," a tradition that greatly influenced the education of the Tampa community.
Tampa continues to be home to Cubans descended from the city's founding families, as well as some of Ybor City and West Tampa's best-known cigar factory readers.