In Meriwether County, seven mayors are proving that some of the most important challenges facing their communities do not stop at city limits and neither should the solutions.
The county’s seven mayors are participating together in GeorgiaForward’s Mayors’ Reading Club, making literacy a shared priority across Meriwether County’s municipalities. Through reading events, community partnerships, library initiatives and other efforts, the mayors are using their collective leadership to put books and literacy resources within reach of more children and families.
The effort builds on a larger culture of collaboration. For more than two years, the county’s mayors have met monthly to communicate, share resources and work together on initiatives that benefit their communities.
Manchester Mayor Richard Trimble said the regular meetings were created because the county’s communities needed a stronger connection.
“We just saw the need to bring that together and communicate,” Trimble said.
Meriwether County is geographically large, but its municipalities are relatively small. Manchester, the largest, has about 3,800 residents, and some of the county’s other communities have only a few hundred.
That makes collaboration especially valuable.
Rather than each city trying to tackle community needs independently, the mayors have developed a practice of sharing ideas, resources and opportunities. Literacy became one of the initiatives they chose to pursue together.
Making Literacy a Community Priority
For Woodbury Mayor Dustin Hawkins, the importance of literacy is both personal and communitywide.
Hawkins owns a bookstore and has long been connected to reading. But becoming mayor changed the way he viewed literacy and its role in his community’s future.
“I started seeing it as truly a part of economic development and community development,” Hawkins said.
That perspective is especially important in rural areas, where resources can be limited. Even something as simple as reading with a child can be harder for some families than it may initially appear, Hawkins said.
“It sounds simple on the surface, but for a rural community like this, it’s often difficult, even time-wise, for a parent or a family member to sit down and read to their child,” Hawkins said.
The reading club gives Meriwether County’s mayors, a way to address those challenges by bringing local leaders into the conversation and connecting them with schools, libraries, community organizations and families.
The goal is not simply to get children to read more. It is to create a culture where reading is visible, accessible and supported throughout the community.
Putting Books in the Hands of Children
The county’s mayors are approaching the work in a variety of ways while supporting one another’s efforts.
Manchester is working with the regional library system and other community partners on reading activities and events. The mayors have promoted literacy through social media and city communications, and they have issued a joint proclamation recognizing the importance of reading.
Together, they are also expanding access to Little Free Libraries. Meriwether County already has several locations, and the mayors are working to add another in a community that did not previously have one.
Civic and community groups—have helped donate books to stock these libraries. The mayors are also working toward creating a countywide map of Little Free Library locations so residents can more easily find books close to home.
The approach reflects the larger philosophy behind the Mayors’ Reading Club: local government leaders do not have to do all the work themselves. They can use their positions to bring people and organizations together around a common goal.
That includes connecting with children directly.
“The mayor is very important, and children know that,” Trimble said. “Each of us feels concerned to connect with schools, connect with children, because this is our future leaders.”
When mayors participate in reading events, visit schools or promote literacy activities, they send a message that reading is not simply a classroom issue—it is something the entire community values.
Literacy as a Foundation for Opportunity
Meriwether County’s work illustrates why literacy is as much a community development issue as an educational one.
For Hawkins, improving literacy means helping residents develop the skills to understand, communicate and participate in civic life, a foundation for the community’s long-term success.
In Woodbury, where there is not currently a public library, Hawkins is exploring ways to increase access to books and literacy resources, including additional Little Free Libraries and partnerships with existing resources in neighboring communities.
He also emphasized that the Mayors’ Reading Club is about something bigger than a single program.
The goal is to encourage and support a culture of reading—something that belongs to the community rather than to one organization or initiative.
The idea is central to the countywide approach.
The seven municipalities have their own identities, needs and resources, but their children share many of the same opportunities and challenges. Working together allows the communities to expand the reach of their individual efforts while creating a stronger collective voice for literacy.
The Power of Collaboration
For GeorgiaForward Program Manager Chan Weeks, whose work focuses on literacy, the Meriwether County effort demonstrates the important role local leaders can play.
“Mayors and local leaders have a unique opportunity to make literacy a communitywide priority because they can bring people together, connect organizations and help elevate the importance of reading beyond the classroom. What makes Meriwether County especially meaningful is that all seven mayors are working toward that shared goal together, showing what is possible when communities collaborate around a common priority.”
The partnership also provides a model for other communities.
Trimble said the mayors have adopted a philosophy that community progress does not have to be a “zero-sum game.” Instead, each community can celebrate progress, share resources and supports its neighbors without viewing another city’s success as its own loss.
“It’s not a zero-sum game,” Trimble said.
That philosophy is particularly powerful when applied to literacy.
A child gaining access to a book is a win for the entire county. A new library resource can benefit families regardless of which city they call home. A successful reading event in one town can spark ideas another can borrow.
A Shared Commitment in the Future
For Meriwether County, the Mayor’s Reading Club is still growing. Each city is finding its own ways to participate, while the mayors continue to look for opportunities to work together.
But the countywide commitment itself is significant.
Seven mayors have agreed that literacy is worth making a priority—and that they can accomplish more by working together.
The result is a collection of small efforts that, taken together, create something much larger: more books within reach, more adults talking about literacy, more local leaders showing up for children and more communities recognizing that reading is foundational to opportunity.
The story of Meriwether County’s Mayor’s Reading Club is ultimately a story about what can happen when communities choose collaboration over competition.
Local governments may have different boundaries, but they can share goals. And when those goals involve helping children succeed, there is an opportunity for every community to contribute.
In Meriwether County, the mayors are showing that when communities work together, everyone wins.
Seven Mayors. One Shared Commitment.
All seven Meriwether County mayors are participating in GeorgiaForward’s Mayor’s Reading Club and working together to promote literacy throughout the county.
- Richard Trimble – Manchester
- Dustin Hawkins – Woodbury
- Josephine Mahone-Stargell – Greenville
- T. Williams – Luthersville
- Scott Pittenger – Lone Oak
- Christopher Walker – Gay
- Robyn Pynenburg – Warm Springs