Hi! My name is Lizzy Norton. I’m a 15-year-old social entrepreneur and the owner of The Book Bug, a youth-led literacy initiative dedicated to sharing books and spreading a love of reading.
Since 2023, The Book Bug has shared more than 15,000 books in Upson County! Thanks to our partnership with Thomaston-Upson Literacy Alliance, we have achieved our goal of getting Upson County on the Get Georgia Reading map and recently received a Georgia Reads Community Award.
The Book Bug currently has four connected programs. Click the links below to learn more or get involved!
Little Free Libraries
In 2023, we began repairing and restocking each of the Little Free Libraries in Thomaston. Since then, we have installed ten new Libraries, replaced two, done countless repairs, and shared over 9,700 books.
Today, Thomaston is home to twenty Little Free Libraries, and we have an amazing group of Team LFL volunteers who help restock them each month.
Regular restocking helps ensure books continue circulating, maintaining a sustainable, community-wide literacy effort.
Want to help? Register here:
Read & Share
Our Read & Share book distribution program launched in Fall 2024.
We partner with For the Love of Reading and First Book to give away brand-new, high-interest books at community events.
So far, we’ve attended 31 events and distributed over 5,700 books. Each book includes a QR code that links to a list of local Little Free Libraries, encouraging families to share their books after they’ve finished reading them. This simple feature increases the impact of each event by helping books reach multiple readers over time.
StoryTime+
StoryTime+ combines our original StoryTime program with free books and parent resources about The Basics – five simple, fun, and powerful ways to support social, emotional, and cognitive development of children from birth to age five.
StoryTime+ is supported by funding from the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College.
I lead four StoryTime+ sessions each month at locations throughout Upson County. Upcoming sessions are listed on our Events page.
Book Club
The Book Bug began as a book club, sharing books with family and friends, and our love of reading together continues.
Through our partnership with Silent Book Club®, we host a volunteer-led book club, welcoming readers of all ages.
There is no assigned reading, just Bring Your Own Book or eReader. We meet two to three times a month, with time to read quietly and time to socialize before and after.
“Silent Book Club Thomaston” recently became “Silent Book Club Flint River,” with regular meetups in Thomaston, Woodbury, and Zebulon!
Join our Book Club:
Program Update
The Book Bug is expanding to Spalding County! We recently visited Anne Street Elementary to install a Little Free Library and host a Read & Share event. Each student got to choose a brand-new book, ensuring everyone starts out with a book to read and share this summer.
We also got a huge donation of books from Crescent Elementary during our May 2026 Book Drive. This donation will help us launch our Spalding County Team LFL program in the fall.
Want to help make literacy a priority in your community? $20 puts 5 brand-new books into the hands of local children, and every donation through our GoFundMe directly supports book purchases for our Read & Share program. Your gift today helps ensure local families continue to have access to books in the year ahead.
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