A Spring Bank Nonprofit Feature 

Contribute to the “Save Storyland Now” campaign!

The moment you meet Sulma, you know she’s an unstoppable leader with a vision. Sulma Arzu-Brown is an author, advocate, and the founder and Executive Director of Storyland, a one-of-a-kind children’s book lounge tucked inside the Bronx Terminal Market, and one of our nonprofit banking customers. 

No money changes hands, and no doom scrolling happens at Storyland. Kids come in, disconnect from their devices, spend two hours immersed in books –  often with live author experiences – and walk out with a complimentary book. Scholastic, Benchmark Literacy, and Harper Collins have all said the same thing about Storyland: they’ve never seen anything like it.

“’Free’ in our community implies cheap quality,” says Sulma. “If you’re sitting in first class on an airplane, they offer you complimentary water. We want our children to understand there’s a difference between free and complimentary. There’s nothing cheap about the people’s hearts who donate the books, and there’s nothing less than about the kids who receive them.”

Where It All Began

The story behind Storyland began with a babysitter who used the term “bad hair” to describe Sulma’s daughter’s curly afro. That moment stuck with Sulma and pushed her to look for a children’s book that her daughter could resonate with, but she couldn’t find one. 

The result? Pelo Malo No Existe, or Bad Hair Does Not Exist – Sulma’s picture book that found its way to the national stage via Essence, NBC Black, the Huffington Post, Telemundo, and eventually a national campaign with Unilever. When Sulma saw that no one else was going to tell this story with the integrity it deserved, she put herself in the driver’s seat.

Years later, that same grit led her back to her community — and to Storyland, rooted in the heart of the South Bronx. Still the poorest congressional district in the country, with some of the lowest literacy rates, the Bronx still ranks as the unhealthiest county designation out of 62 in New York.  When BTM’s General Manager, Janet Jimenez, showed Sulma an empty space at the Bronx Terminal Market and asked her to write a proposal to secure it, she almost said no. She was unemployed, at one of the lowest points in her professional life, and had no funding, but she wrote the proposal anyway. 

Sulma won the proposal, landing a 4,500-square-foot space provided rent-free for two years. And the good news didn’t stop there. The paint was donated by the maintenance team, the furniture came from a cancelled TV set, and the carpet once honored Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s office. Scholastic even became their first book donor. 

“I had no plan,” Sulma says, laughing. “But the vision was already in me.”

A Day at Storyland

Today, Storyland brings 30 to 50 students at a time through a two-hour program that includes mindful movement, positive affirmations, a live author reading, and a themed breakout session. Programs have featured authors writing about natural hair, books in braille read aloud by a legally blind child named Wani, and spoken-word sessions where kids wrote and performed their own poetry for the first time. 

Storyland has been recognized by the Drew Barrymore Show (twice), and TV personality Sunny Anderson made it the very first stop for her segment, “Sunny on the Streets.” Scholastic, Benchmark Literacy, and HarperCollins have all said the same thing: they have never seen a space or a program like this anywhere in the country. Storyland is, by every account, the first children’s book lounge of its kind in the United States.

What’s Next

The next chapter is already being written. This summer, Storyland launches Tell Your Story, a five-day spoken word curriculum led by three-time Emmy-nominated poet Trey Baker, culminating in a student recital at Kids Foot Locker. Separately, Write Your Story, already underway through May 2027, takes a cohort of 25 students through the process of writing and publishing their own books, to produce five published young authors. When those royalties come in, Sulma wants those youth to have a bank account waiting for them.

“That’s where we’re looking for with the partnership of Spring Bank,” she says. “We want the money to go directly to their accounts. Those kids are going to need to open a checking account, and they’re going to get the proceeds from when people buy their books.” 

Sulma’s vision doesn’t stop there, though. She also wants to franchise Storyland, with the hopes that educators will open their own locations.

“I give myself permission to dream now,” she says. “It took a lot to get here.”

Our Partnership 

Storyland became a Spring Bank customer not long after they opened their doors in late 2024, and it’s been inspiring to watch them grow. As a community bank in New York that’s dedicated to helping nonprofits prosper, we pay extra attention so that nothing stifles that growth. When check-washing fraud hit Storyland’s account, our team caught it immediately, froze the account, reordered their checkbooks, and kept Storyland from experiencing financial distress.

“Spring Bank has saved us multiple times,” Sulma says. “As a small organization that doesn’t have a lot of money yet, for someone to try to take the little bit we have — that would break us. And you guys are making sure that doesn’t happen. Anytime there’s a red flag, we’re getting a call immediately. I don’t even know how many times I’ve said thank you,” says Sulma. 

The feeling is mutual — we, and the entire community, are grateful for everything Storyland is building for the next generation of Bronx youth. We are proud to be Storyland’s banking partner, and we can’t wait to see those young authors’ names in print. 

Save Storyland Now
How You Can Help

Contribute to the “Save Storyland Now” campaign!

For nearly two years, the Bronx Terminal Market has generously donated their space. However, the organization has reached a critical crossroads: to survive, they must immediately secure their space by converting the temporary agreement into a paid lease.

While STORYLAND has proudly run on humble donations and volunteer power, they are running out of time. They must raise a minimum of $50K by mid-August to secure this lease. Despite securing some grants and sponsorships, they are simply not enough to keep our doors open. Donate to the “Save Storyland Now” campaign and support Bronx youth! 

Learn more about Storyland and support their mission here. Follow them on Instagram to see the poems, the authors, and the kids. If you’re in New York and have a skill, a story, or a few hours to spare, they’re always looking for volunteers.

If you’re a small business or nonprofit looking for a banking partner that’s as invested in your journey as you are, our doors are open. Learn how we can support your growth with tailored small business bank account solutions and mission-driven staff.