Jodi Everett

Reporter

There are many shops and attractions within Historic Downtown of Columbus, Mississippi: Coffee House on 5th, Rosenzweig Arts Center and Cafe on Main, to name a few. But one shop that stands out is Friendly City Books.

Friendly City Books is located on 118 5th Street North, right across from Coffee House on 5th. The locally owned bookstore was opened in November 2020 by former Mississippi School of Math and Science student Emily Liner. After graduating from MSMS in 2004, Liner had no plans of returning to Columbus. However, her opinion shifted when she started teaching at the Mississippi Governor’s School in 2017. She soon came to realize that Columbus was pulling her in, and, before she knew it, she had moved back to the Friendly City.

“As I was thinking about moving and changing careers and coming back home, I was thinking, ‘Well, what are the things that I would like to have in the new place that I live?’ And the first thing was a coffee shop, the second thing was a yoga studio, but the third thing was a bookstore,” said Liner. “At the time, there was the Books-A-Million, but I was more interested in having an independent bookstore with a more personal feel. And then the Books-A-Million closed. And then I thought, ‘Okay. This has to happen now.’”

As fate seemed to have it, Columbus quite literally made an opening for Friendly City Books. The bookstore became known for its friendly staff, wide selection of books, selection of titles that tackle diverse issues and their most enthusiastic supporter, Scarlet, who is Liner’s dog.

Rachel Derise discussed the store’s diverse young adult section.

“Emily says we try to have a book for everybody. Especially books that touch on hard topics or things you wouldn’t normally find in a small Southern town. We really try to have that stuff available,” said Derise.

Derise and Liner believe that by offering such books, especially to Mississippi University for Women and MSMS students, they can open doors to new ideas and perspectives about the world around them. Some of their current most popular books that fall into this category are, “O.N. Pruitt’s Possum Town” by Berkley Hudson and “A Place Like Mississippi” by W. Ralph Eubanks.

There is a strong sense of community within Friendly City Books. Liner strongly advocates for Mississippi-born authors and poets by including their work on her shelves.

“Honestly, kind of the reason why I decided to open a bookstore, even when the Books-A-Million was still here, I remember going in and I was looking for the section on Mississippi authors and there was just one display that had just a handful of William Faulkner and John Grisham books, and I just thought ‘There’s so much more out there that could be an entire aisle,’” said Liner.

Liner’s personal goal of her bookstore was to have an entire wall dedicated to Mississippi authors, and her store now boasts both a wall of Mississippi authors and featured works by Mississippi natives. Friendly City Books works to connect not only with Downtown Columbus, but the local university as well. A copy of The W’s very own Dilettanti rests on one of the shelves. Liner also makes it a point to be involved with local events to encourage students to be more involved with the community. These events include book signings, virtual poetry readings, lecture series and more.

As for upcoming events, on March 29, there will be an in-person book talk and signing with Gary Bachman, author of “Southern Gardening All Year Long.” The event will be held at in person at 10:30 a.m. at Friendly City Books. On March 31, there will be a virtual poetry reading with Jason B. Crawford, Kim Sousa and C.T. Salazar. The event will be held over Zoom with an RSVP link on Friendly City Books’ website.

On April 11, there will be a Literacy Event for Linda Williams Jackson’s new book, “The Lucky Ones.” The event will be held at Cook Elementary School, with times to be announced. The store will also be participating in Independent Bookstore Day with sales and exclusive merchandise on April 30. For more information on all these events and more, check out Friendly City Books’ website, www.friendlycitybooks.com.