Friendly City Books is a bookstore located in historic downtown Columbus in Mississippi offering books in an array of genres, including children’s books. Launched with the intention of bolstering community in the city, the bookstore intends to be not merely a seller but a gathering place for writers and readers. Their curated events hope to highlight Mississippi’s rich literary tradition, and their publishing imprint seeks to promote new voices from the Hospitality State. They also help facilitate the Rooted Book Club with Mississippi Book Festival and Lemuria Books, an effort to share and discuss works of fiction and nonfiction about the South.