Books Bring People Together.

We believe in the power of books to build community, writers to change the world, and reading as a force for good.

The Friendly City Books
Community Connection

a special project of the CREATE Foundation

About Us

Friendly City Books Community Connection, a special project of the CREATE Foundation, is our nonprofit arm to support literacy and literary arts in our community and throughout the region. Through our efforts we seek to support essential civic institutions in our area, improve literacy in our public schools, reduce barriers to book access, recognize and develop talented new writers, and enhance overall quality of life in our community.

  • We seek to bring together people from different walks of life in the Columbus area through book donations, community events, original publications, and outreach activities that promote engagement with literature and fellow community members.

  • Support essential civic institutions in our area

    Improve literacy in our public schools

    Reduce barriers to book access

    Recognize talented new writers

    Enhance overall quality of life in our community

  • We believe books take you places.

    We believe books change lives.

    We believe books bring people together.

Become a Friend

The Friendly City Books Community Connection, a special project of the CREATE Foundation—a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization—relies on contributions from individuals, businesses, and allied organizations to continue its literacy and literary arts programs in Columbus and across Mississippi.

Highlights from our first year

Over 9,000 books donated since 2023

Book Donations

We seek to remove barriers which keep readers in our community from getting access to books. Here’s a just a few of the places where you can find our donated books: Columbus Municipal School District, Lowndes County School District, Starkville Oktibbeha School District, Baptist Memorial Hospital, Columbus Air Force Base, the Columbus Juneteenth Celebration, the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System, the Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce’s Educators are Essential Conference, the Mississippi Book Festival, the Mississippi School for Mathematics & Science, Mississippi University for Women, and more across the region.

Books in Schools

We’ve connected our local schools with the opportunity for students to meet inspiring writers with Mississippi roots. Highlights include visits in Columbus and Starkville from bestselling author Angie Thomas on her book tour for Nic Blake and the Remarkables and award-winning animator Andy Harkness for his picture book Wolfboy Is Scared. We also host an annual program for children to learn about the new Mississippi state flag and state song through the children’s book One Mississippi with songwriter/author Steve Azar and illustrator Sarah Frances Hardy.

Authors in the Community

Mississippi has long been the native soil of great storytellers. We never miss an excuse to gather with our neighbors and share a good story. As part of our mission, we use books and authors to bring together people from all walks of life to connect and learn from each other. In 2023, Friendly City Books partnered with Mississippi University for Women to bring The Comfort of Crows author Margaret Renkl to the Ina E. Gordy Honors Forum Series and Emotional Labor author Rose Hackman for the Nell Peel Wolfe Lecture. We worked with our neighbors at the Columbus Arts Council to stage a special book talk with Harrison Scott Key for his new memoir How to Stay Married. We also brought author Nyani Nkrumah to five communities in Mississippi for conversations about her novel Wade in the Water which deals with the aftermath of the murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.

Community Read

We’re lucky to be located near two unique public educational institutions – the Mississippi University for Women and the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science – and we joined forces with them to bring MUW’s recommended reading for incoming students beyond the gates of campus to the greater community, along with the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library and the City of Columbus. We’ve been a part of the 2023 program for Clint Smith’s How the Word Is Passed and the 2024 program for Alejandra Campoverdi’s First Gen, including book giveaways and events on and off campus.

Authors in the Community

Mississippi has long been the native soil of great storytellers. We never miss an excuse to gather with our neighbors and share a good story. As part of our mission, we use books and authors to bring together people from all walks of life to connect and learn from each other. In 2023, Friendly City Books partnered with Mississippi University for Women to bring The Comfort of Crows author Margaret Renkl to the Ina E. Gordy Honors Forum Series and Emotional Labor author Rose Hackman for the Nell Peel Wolfe Lecture. We worked with our neighbors at the Columbus Arts Council to stage a special book talk with Harrison Scott Key for his new memoir How to Stay Married. We also brought author Nyani Nkrumah to five communities in Mississippi for conversations about her novel Wade in the Water which deals with the aftermath of the murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.

Podcast Conversations

We want to connect the brightest minds in literature today with rural and remote communities, so we launched the Friendly City Books Podcast to close the gap. We’ve featured nearly 50 established and emerging writers for lively and thought-provoking discussions. 

Contact us.

nonprofit@friendlycitybooks.com
(662) 570-4247