Mark Your Calendars: Fall Book Walk on Nov. 14

The 2025 Book Walk gave children the chance to wear their Halloween costumes as they went around the square in Sumner. Photos credit: Venita Halbert

The fifth annual Fall Book Walk will be held on the square in Sumner, MS, on November 14 from 12:00 to 3:00 PM. The event is free and open to the public—no registration necessary! Families with kids 12 and under are invited.

This year’s Book Walk will include a DJ providing music, read-alouds, art activities, and book giveaways.

The first Book Walk in 2022 was an idea from ETIC Community Engagement Associate Venita Halbert. She recognized that the only libraries in Tallahatchie County were at the local schools, which could be miles away for some residents. She helped coordinate participation from schools, authors, and partner organizations in an effort to promote reading and literacy among children. To that end, the Book Walk has featured read-alouds, free books, and interactions with local businesses so young people could know their community better.

"The goal for this day is to show our community what all our work has been for and to engage with them through literacy and fun," said Halbert. "This work has been going on since I was a little girl, and to now see Jerome G. Little's dream come to fruition and produce so many opportunities for our county is awesome. This was not done by ETIC alone; this was done with partnerships, consistency, dedication, and trust. I'm personally proud to see the growth and very excited to see what our work can continue to do."

The hope is to develop the Book Walk into a much larger event over time in the vein of the Mississippi Book Festival, bringing people together around a shared love of books and stories.

We hope you and your families will come out to take part!