Araba 'Storybook' Maze: Street Librarian Who Changes Kids' Lives

Three years ago, Araba Maze found herself perched on the front steps of her Baltimore residence, engrossed in reading a book to her niece. Little did she know, this simple act would soon attract a growing crowd of neighborhood kids for what she dubbed "stoop storytime." As the curious children gathered around, Maze couldn't help but take notice. "What's going on here?" she wondered. Their eagerness for more stories prompted her to inquire further. "Why don't you read at home?" she suggested, only to be met with a surprising response: "We don't have any books." Unbeknownst to her at the time, these impromptu reading sessions marked the beginning of Maze's journey as a librarian and advocate. 

Today, she champions the cause of providing books to underprivileged urban children who lack access to libraries, carving out a path as both a librarian and an influencer.

Storybook Maze

Now going as Storybook Maze, Maze began working at the closest library, which wasn't all that close considering her neighbourhood is one of Baltimore's worst "book deserts."  With her expertise, she began curating book collections and distributing them to children in three innovative ways.

The first method involved setting up free book vending machines. Leveraging her substantial social media presence on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, she successfully crowdfunded to establish a book vending machine for underprivileged children in 2023. Through her initiative, she has provided over 7,000 books to youngsters, as well as establishing pop-up bookstores to expand her reach.

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Continuing her regular "stoop storytimes," where she reads to kids across the city, Maze is expanding her social media following. Her mission? To provide more children with access to books. Setting up free, thoughtfully curated book kiosks, community bookshelves, and vending machines, she's making literature more accessible. Maze tirelessly reaches out to local authorities and applies for grants to fund her project, believing every effort is 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 to the US News. “That really affirmed for me that I’m doing important work.”