Turn the page: Times book editor Bancroft says goodbye

In 2021, as the pandemic raged, the Tampa Bay Times Festival of Reading was virtual, online, impersonal. St. Petersburg’s long-running celebration of books, authors and literacy returned in person, at the Palladium Theater, in ’22 and ’23.

This year, what would have been the 32^nd Festival of Reading won’t happen at all.

The Times hasn’t said the event is officially out of print, remaindered to the bargain bin of history. Only that it’s been canceled for 2024.

Books editor Colette Bancroft had been the chief organizer of the Festival of Reading since 2007, when it was held on the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus and at the neighboring Poynter Institute.

Bancroft, who joined the Times staff in 1997, accepted the company’s buyout offer this week. “That means I complete my work at the Times at the end of this month,” she explained. “I couldn’t stay on until November to do it, so they decided to cancel it for this year. Whether it will come back, I do not know.”

The Times announced it had to eliminate 60 jobs, or 20 percent of its staff, as a cost-cutting measure. The buyout package included an extra four weeks of severance pay to anyone who made the choice voluntarily.

LEARN MORE: Tampa Bay Times offers buyouts; layoffs may follow

Staff reductions are part of a trend in the world of daily journalism. “With notable exceptions,” Bancroft said, “with newspapers, most of them large, national papers, book reviews are either gone or close to gone. And of course I’ve seen that happening. I’ve been telling people for years ‘I’m an endangered species.’

“It’s a struggling industry. It’s trying to find its own footing, and that’s where a lot of papers have chosen to make cuts.

“So no, this was not a giant shock or anything.”

Bancroft sits on the board of the National Book Critics Circle. “I’m in my fourth term; I’ve been on the board off and on for over 10 years. It’s an organization with over 700 members – but very few of those members work for newspapers. They write for all kinds of other platforms and venues.”

Her author interviews, feature stories and book reviews appeared often in the Times, but the festival’s switch to the Palladium’s Hough Hall stage put her squarely under the spotlight, conducting one-on-one interviews before an audience. For the first time, too, attendees had to buy tickets.

It was a dramatic format change from the USF/Poynter days, which featured a wide range of author talks and events spread over several facilities.

Bancroft says she feared the Festival of Reading would fall victim to the inevitable ax. “I’ve held my breath on that for several years,” she said, “thinking that ‘This will be the year they’ll say we just can’t do this any more.’

“Because until last year, it didn’t make money. It was a free event. The newspaper paid for it all those years as a kind of marketing and outreach event for the community.

“If I’m surprised by anything, it’s that it’s lasted as long as it has.”

Bancroft, who’s a voracious reader, said she plans to write about books, part-time or as a freelancer, for other outlets.

“I am sadder that the festival is canceled than I am about my own departure. Because I was planning to retire; I’m past retirement age. I had thought about retiring last year.

“So this just sort of changes my timeline a little bit. It isn’t as difficult a personal adjustment for me as it is for some other people. But I’m very sad about the festival not going on this year.”