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The idea of a university literacy festival was conceived to connect students from Title I schools with young adult authors who focus their writing on diverse characters. The goal of the university literacy festival was to invite authors whose writing would represent strong, diverse characters that would allow students from Title I schools to see themselves and their culture through literature on a deeper level. When students are given the opportunity to meet the authors of books they read at a university literacy festival, it ignites imaginations and enables them to experience "story" in a real and immediate way.

A university's literacy festival can promote reading and foster the idea that books make a difference, especially to undersupported students from Title I schools. A literacy festival featuring a variety of diverse authors presenting hands-on workshops showcasing their literary craft can enable students from Title I schools to engage with the authors and can motivate students from diverse backgrounds to develop an excitement for reading. It can also motivate teachers and librarians to use literature that reflects their population to engage students in reading and can transform teacher candidates' understanding of students from diverse backgrounds. The authors describe how a university College of Education's literacy festival was implemented and explore how it provided an opportunity for children in low-socioeconomic-status communities to be exposed to books and authors of quality children's literature.