Tuesdays for Tucson – Read Between the Bars

Join Read Between the Bars on Tuesday, March 31st from 5pm to 10pm at La Cocina Restau rant and Bar for their weekly benefit! Come and enjoy any food or drink that evening, and 10% of the sales will go to support Read Between the Bars’ mission of sending books to people incarcerated in Arizona.

While there, you’ll get to enjoy live music by Mik and Scott and Billy Sedlmayr. Mik and Scott, who are regular performers at La Cocina, use looping bass, sax, drums, and other instruments to create a unique, experimental funk sound. Billy Sedlmayr h

as been a contributor to Tucson’s music scene since his teenage years, when he was involved in local punk bands like The Pedestrians. Over the years, while sharing the stage and studio with the likes of Howe Gelb and Dave Seeger, his sound took a turn toward Americana.

Let us know you’re coming by RSVPing on the Facebook event. Feel free to bring your gently used paperback books to donate at that time. Hope to see you there!

For questions, please email us at readbetweenthebars@gmail.com.

In the spring of 2007, a group of Tucsonans assembled to explore how to collect books and raise funds so that they could provide reading material to the many people in Arizona’s prisons. They were the first members of the collective that became known as Read Between the Bars.

Their efforts were a success. Five years later, Read Between the Bars (RBtB) has sent thousands of books to people in Arizona’s prisons and receives 50 to 60 new book requests per month. To celebrate five years of service, RBtB invites supporters and community members to its Fifth Anniversary Fundraiser Celebration at La Cocina Restaurant, Cantina, and Coffee Bar, 201 North Court Avenue, on Tuesday, June 12. Hours for the event are 5:00 to 10:00 p.m.

La Cocina has generously agreed to donate 10% of the evening’s net profits to Read Between the Bars, so supporters and community members will be able to support RBtB with their food and drink purchases while they enjoy music by the Menno Band, Folk ‘Em Up, Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl, and Mitzi Cowell.

La Cocina offers unique and healthy fare, including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. Their menu features creative takes on familiar American fare, as well as dishes from around the globe, from spinach pie to chilaquiles to coconut curry.

Read Between the Bars will also host a raffle for prizes, including an autographed copy of local author Laila Halaby‘s novel Once in a Promised Land, an autographed poster from NPR‘s popular quiz show “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me,” and more prizes to be announced. Tickets will be available for a suggested donation.

Money raised at the Fifth Anniversary Fundraiser Celebration will go directly to the costs of mailing books to people in Arizona’s prisons. Read Between the Bars is an all-volunteer, nonprofit collective dedicated to improving the lives of people in prison by improving access to education, new ideas, or just the escape of a good story.