Story Books wins community engagement award from Mississippi Main Street

Brittany Meador brought a downtown Cleveland success story back from Jackson after Story Books won the Outstanding Community Engagement Effort award from the Mississippi Main Street Association. Meador accepted the honor from Thomas Gregory, the association’s executive director, at the annual awards luncheon, and the recognition points to a business model that does more than sell books: it helps keep people moving through downtown Cleveland.

Story Books was honored in a category that fits squarely within Mississippi Main Street’s mission to foster economic and community development through community engagement, pride of place and quality design. The association uses the Main Street Approach, built around organization, design, promotion and economic vitality, and its annual luncheon recognizes Main Street directors, board members, volunteers and standout downtown revitalization projects and events from designated communities across Mississippi.

For Cleveland, the award is a sign that a local business can shape the health of the district beyond its own storefront. A bookstore that hosts events, draws repeat visitors and gives families, students and neighbors a reason to linger downtown can help nearby merchants benefit from the same traffic. That matters in a city where Team Cleveland Main Street has been part of the downtown story for decades; Mississippi Main Street says the local program was renamed in 1993 to reflect a community-wide commitment to revitalizing business districts citywide, and the organization notes that Cleveland is home to Delta State University.

The statewide context makes the recognition more than a plaque on the wall. Mississippi Main Street said its 48 designated programs created 841 new jobs, 551 new or expanded businesses, 183 rehabilitation projects, 79 public improvement projects and 24 new construction projects in 2022, while generating more than $242 million in investment and more than 42,250 volunteer hours. The group also says a dollar spent at a locally owned Main Street business circulates about three times more in the community than a dollar spent at a national chain on the highway bypass.

The annual awards luncheon was held at The South in downtown Jackson, a setting Mississippi Main Street uses to spotlight its network of downtown leaders and projects across the state. For Cleveland, Story Books’ win shows how relationships, events and steady foot traffic can turn a neighborhood storefront into part of the city’s economic engine.