By A green-and-gold trolley is giving Baltimore children a new reason to come running when they hear a bell. On board are free books, stories and a librarian determined to make reading one of the best parts of the neighborhood day.
Known as Ms. Maze, the woman behind Storybook Maze has turned a rolling library into a gathering place for children who may have few books at home. Her mission began on her front stoop, where an afternoon reading to her nieces attracted other neighborhood children — and revealed why they were so reluctant to leave.
“I was like, ‘OK, you guys can go home and read a book.’ And they told me they don’t have any books at home,” she recalled in an interview with TODAY.com.
That answer stayed with her. Weekend readings grew into a larger effort to put books directly into children’s hands, eventually taking her beyond the walls of a traditional library.
“So it was around (the COVID-19 pandemic) that I quit my full-time librarian job and took to the streets as a radical street librarian,” she said. She handed out books from her car trunk and continued hosting outdoor story times, bringing the library to children where they already gathered.
Along the way, she learned about “book deserts,” neighborhoods where books are scarce. Some children told her their families could not afford them. Others had working parents who struggled to find time for library trips, or needed help finding something they would enjoy.
@storybookmaze Thank you for showing how much you care. ❤️ This is how you create lifelong readers: by meeting people where they already are, going directly into a book desert, putting books into the hands of kids, and planting seeds of reading and literacy that can grow into a lifelong love of books. 📚 #BookTok #freebooks #literacy #magical ♬ This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) – Natalie Cole
“My street in Baltimore was one of the worst book deserts,” Ms. Maze said. She set out to change that, distributing books at school football games and placing book vending machines at a local swim center.
Getting books into the neighborhood was only part of the job. She also wanted children to see reading as something to look forward to, saying her goal was to “reintroduce readers to reading in a fun and magical way.”
The trolley gave that ambition wheels. A holiday trial run featured a Polar Express theme, followed by a summer rollout with stops at parks and a football practice in Baltimore’s Park Heights neighborhood. Hundreds of children and family members visited, with some days bringing 50 to 130 readers aboard to choose a book.
“Then, we have an ice cream stop where we just ride around town like a little ice cream truck and ring the bell. And as we see kids on their stoops, we read to them and give them books,” she added.
The shelves primarily hold children’s titles, but the welcome extends to older readers, too. Interest from teenagers and adults has encouraged Ms. Maze to add graphic novels, horror and other genres, helping more visitors find something they want to take home.
“Kids want to read so much, and you would think that they don’t, especially competing with screens and iPads,” Ms. Maze noted. “But when we come through and we present it in the way that we do on a trolley, I feel like it’s the hottest thing on the block.”
A small team helps drive the trolley and plan its routes, while partnerships with local businesses bring it to festivals and back-to-school events. An online wish list and a GoFundMe page help replenish the supply of books. Her plans include another book vending machine, improvements to the trolley and, eventually, a larger fleet.
For Ms. Maze, the cheerful trolley serves a lasting purpose: giving children the access they need to become confident readers. Each stop offers another chance to find a favorite story — and a book they can call their own.
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