Araba Maze, a mobile librarian from Baltimore, Maryland, is on a mission to increase book access in underserved communities by providing free books to local Black children through pop-up shops and vending machines.
Maze explained that it all began about 5 years ago when she was reading children’s books to her niece on a Baltimore stoop and noticed that other neighborhood kids would stop by to listen. Since then, she has been collecting books to read to them during storytime.
Maze became a librarian because she was driven by her purpose, but she soon realized that it wasn’t enough and that she wanted to do more. According to US News, that’s when she decided to go to the streets outside the library to reach more kids, and she became known as the Radical Street Librarian.
Maze then established The Storybook Maze Project, which distributes free children’s books in Baltimore’s “book deserts,” or areas where books and other reading materials are in short supply. Children in these areas, which typically have high poverty rates, frequently struggle to read and understand words.
Maze’s goal is to reach as many children as possible with books. She creates community bookshelves, pop-up book stands, and book vending machines that provide free access to curated books that are diverse and relatable. She is also constantly applying for grants and reaching out to community leaders for financial support. After all, she believes that all of her efforts are worthwhile.
“When I was reading one day on the stoop, I opened the page and the little girl stopped me from turning the page. She was just staring at an image of herself: that book also had a little Black girl living, and she was just transfixed,” Maze said. “That really affirmed for me that I’m doing important work.”