WE ARE: AUTHORS + BOOKS + COMMUNITY

Greensboro Bound is focused on the basics. Everything we do revolves around these essential ABCs:
Authors + Books + Community = Greensboro Bound

Just this year, donors made it possible for us to:

• Offer ALL of our programming 100% FREE to our community
  Why It Matters: Access matters. Everyone should have access to books, knowledge, and ideas, regardless of socioeconomic status. We are committed to being a gathering place for conversation, whether that's through virtual presentations or when we're able to once again meet in-person.
  
  
• Engage 1,000+ community members through virtual conversations with outstanding authors from North Carolina and beyond, including acclaimed novelist Lee Smith; chef and James Beard Award winner Vivian Howard; and writer and social justice advocate Tessie Castillo in our four-part Crimson Letters series.
  Why It Matters: Through these virtual programs, Greensboro Bound is helping people make meaningful connections with the books and writers they love, discover books by new, diverse voices, and engage in thoughtful conversation about pressing issues that impact all our lives.

• Reach 33,400 students in 70 public schools in Guilford County through our Authors Engaging Students program with in-person and virtual author visits with acclaimed YA historical author Ruta Sepetys, Kelly Starling Lyons, Jo Watson Hackl, Amy Reed, Ellen Fischer, and illustrator Thomas Boatwright.
  Why It Matters: Greensboro Bound author visits provide critical building blocks for reading success in the kids we reach, 60%+ of whom are low-income. Children’s lives are opened to new worlds and possibilities when they meet people who create unique characters and places. As one second grader exclaimed after an author visit, “Before today I never knew I could be an author. Now I know I can be an author, too!”

• Donate 700 free books to Guilford County Schools who participate in Authors Engaging Students visits.
  Why It Matters: Making sure children have easy access to books is key to igniting a life-long love of reading. Thanks to Greensboro Bound’s donation program, book check-outs at GCS school libraries are up by 471% after an author visit!