About Urban Reads
The City That Reads
Urban Reads Bookstore is a community bookstore at 3008 Greenmount Ave. in Baltimore, Maryland: the hub for urban authors and the readers who love them.
Our story
Urban Reads Bookstore opened in December 2019 at 3008 Greenmount Ave. When no one wanted to put her on their shelves, owner Tia Hamilton got a store and put her own book on the shelf. The Urban Reads Foundation came after.
What we carry
Our shelves include Black history, children's books, young readers, non-fiction, urban fiction, memoir, self-help and poetry, along with many other categories. Browse the whole shop or pick a category from the Categories menu at the top of the page.
The Banned Books Bookstore
We use the hashtag #TheBannedBooksBookstore. [Tia: add a sentence or two in your own words about banned books and why they matter to the store]
More than a bookstore
- Events at the store and around Baltimore.
- Residency, a monthly residency for small Black-owned businesses inside the store.
- Publishing through All Titles Publishing & Distribution, for authors.
- URB Youth Summit for young people.
- Prison shipping: we ship donated books to incarcerated individuals. Donate to help cover shipping (opens in a new tab).
Visit or get in touch
Find us at 3008 Greenmount Ave., Baltimore, MD 21218. Store hours: Thursday to Saturday, 12 to 6 PM. See the contact page for phone, email and directions.
About the look of this site
The colors on this site come from the Urban Reads retro logo: cream, red, yellow, green and teal.
