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Related: Check out these 16 inspiring independent bookstores in North Carolina. These shops are about more than just books — they’re about community. [caption id="attachment_166479" align="alignright" width="300"] A collection of

Rosemary and Goat Cheese Strata

Related: Check out these 16 inspiring independent bookstores in North Carolina. These shops are about more than just books — they’re about community. [caption id="attachment_166479" align="alignright" width="300"] A collection of

Bookmarks in Winston-Salem

Related: Check out these 16 inspiring independent bookstores in North Carolina. These shops are about more than just books — they’re about community.


A collection of the many books available by North Carolina authors. photograph by Maria West Photography

Author Sheila Turnage stands in front of a large group of middle school students at The Downtown School in Winston-Salem. “Where are all the writers in the room?” she asks, her kind eyes framed by red-rimmed glasses. A bunch of hands shoot into the air. The Newbery Honor winner is talking to the schoolchildren about her latest novel, Island of Spies, which follows a group of kids as they investigate a mystery on Hatteras Island during World War II.

Turnage’s visit was organized by Bookmarks, a literary arts nonprofit and bookstore just a few blocks away. She smiles and shows the crowd a black-and-white picture of a young, curly-haired girl. It’s Turnage at age 6. “This is how old I was when I became a writer,” she says. “It’s never too soon to get started.” She allots time at the end of her presentation for questions that range from “How hard is it to publish a story?” to “What’s your favorite color and why?”

Bookmarks’ youth programs give local kids better access to books. Last May, students from Hall-Woodward Elementary each picked one book from the store for their school and three to take home. photograph by Maria West Photography

As the kids are dismissed, a few line up behind a table in the back of the room, hardcover copies of Turnage’s novel in hand, waiting for her to sign them. Sixty copies of Turnage’s book were donated to the school by Bookmarks’ youth and schools program. In addition to organizing author visits in schools, the program arranges field trips to the bookstore and closes the store early for educator nights so that teachers can network and have access to new literature.

Keeping schools stocked with enough books to help every student expand their literary horizons is a complicated task. The youth programs at Bookmarks help schools meet their literary goals. Last year, they donated more than 8,000 books to community nonprofits and schools, and hosted 50 free author visits at schools, colleges, and universities. And these efforts are just some of the ways in which the nonprofit helps bring literature to the community.

Bookmarks’ brick-and-mortar shop opened in 2017. photograph by Maria West Photography

Bookmarks was originally established in 2004 as a local literary festival. That event, which takes place each September, has since brought more than 850 authors, illustrators, and storytellers to Winston-Salem. Soon after the festival started, more community members got involved and helped develop Bookmarks as a nonprofit, working to increase book access in other ways. A downtown brick-and-mortar store followed in 2017 and has since become a home base for local book clubs, children’s story times, and more.

After signing the last autograph, Turnage reflects on how much it means to her to make trips like these from her home near Farmville. She receives lots of emails from children, but her favorite messages are the ones that say, I never liked to read until I read your book. “That child,” she says, “can go absolutely anywhere from there.”

Bookmarks
634 West Fourth Street, No. 110
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 747-1471
bookmarksnc.org

This story was published on Mar 27, 2023

Chloe Klingstedt

Chloe Klingstedt is an assistant editor at Our State magazine, a Texan by birth, and a North Carolinian at heart.