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| Nicole A. Johnson | |
Baltimore Read Aloud, a pop-up store specializing in diverse children's titles, will launch a mobile bookstore early next year.
Owner and founder Nicole A. Johnson is converting a high-top cargo van into a bookstore on wheels and hopes to have it on the road in winter 2024. Ignite Capital, a subsidiary of Innovation Works, is helping to finance the mobile bookstore. Once the store is up and running, Johnson will bring a rotating selection of diverse children's books to readers throughout Baltimore, Md., and surrounding counties.
Johnson said she was grateful for the support from Ignite Capital, adding that with the mobile bookstore, she "can travel around the city to schools and community events reaching families who can't wait to get their hands on these books."
Johnson founded Baltimore Read Aloud in 2018 after struggling to find books for her two children that reflected their identity. She carries books that reflect a diverse group of identities, including race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender, disability, and neurodiversity.
From 2020 to 2022, Baltimore Read Aloud was on hiatus. Last year, the store returned with pop-up appearances at the shopping mall Towson Town Center in Towson, Md., and an ongoing partnership with the Banneker-Douglas Museum in Annapolis, Md. There have also been visits to area street fairs and festivals.
"At every pop-up, I meet a parent who is excited to finally see their child's identity on the cover or pages of a book," Johnson said. "With some curation, I can tell these families, 'I have a book for you.' "