WINSTON-SALEM — Bookmarks’ grand opening celebration will take place on Saturday, July 8 ,from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. at 634 W. Fourth St., #110 in Winston-Salem.

Bookmarks’ new home will include a nonprofit independent bookstore, a dynamic event and gathering space, and Bookmarks’ offices. There will be hourly drawings for prizes and giveaways for all attendees. This event is free and open to the public.

The day will begin with a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting followed by Bookmarks’ inaugural storytime with Mayor Allen Joines at 10:30 a.m.

Bolt from the Winston-Salem Dash will be on site from 1:30-2:30 p.m. for photos and autographs, and Kona Ice of Kernersville will visit from 1-3 p.m. A portion of Kona Ice’s sales will benefit Bookmarks.

Regular hours for the space will be: Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sundays from 12-6 p.m. The parking lot, with entry off Holly Avenue, has more than 80 spaces. The Foothills Café will open this fall in the same building.

Bookmarks announced last April its plans to create a new home for the literary arts in Winston-Salem that would include its headquarters, a gathering space, and a nonprofit independent bookstore.

Thanks to donations from over 500 individuals, foundations and corporate sponsors, as well as supporters who attended ticketed author events and rounded up to support the literary arts, fundraising was complete in May 2017.

“We are so grateful for the full community’s support of this project,” said Ginger Hendricks, executive director of Bookmarks. “With the opening of our new home, we will double our outreach the first year alone to over 50,000 people.”

Bookmarks is a literary arts nonprofit organization that fosters a love of reading and writing in the community.

The programming connects readers with authors and books and is achieved through the largest annual book festival in the Carolinas; an Authors in Schools program, which reaches 7,500 students annually; and year-round events in their gathering space and nonprofit independent bookstore. Visit bookmarksnc.org for more information.

Author appearance

Daniel Wallace, author of the new “Extraordinary Adventures” and “Big Fish” (recently seen as a theatrical musical at Piedmont Players) will be at Bookmarks Monday, July 10, 6:30 p.m.

Look for a review of “Extraordinary Adventures” on this page June 9.