Victoria’s only mobile book truck, Meant Well Books, is back for their second summer season and has numerous events for the bookworms of the capital region.
Meant Well Books was started by Melanie Brouwer and her 9-year-old daughter Arlo last June. They operate the business out of a small, Japanese Kei truck.
The business sold over 500 books last summer and hopes to surpass that number this year with the addition of a second vehicle—a book scooter.
“We are also introducing a book scooter for this season, so part of what we worked on over the rainier months was setting that up,” Brouwer told Victoria Buzz.
“The book scooter was set up to resemble the little libraries that are so loved around Victoria and it allows us to go to spaces where there’s less room for our truck to pop up, or on the flipside of that, it allows us to set up both if we need even more books.”
She added that Meant Well Books is now offering free local delivery to customers in Victoria’s core by using the book scooter.
“Its also just very cute and fun to drive around in,” she added.
Both the truck and the scooter were outfitted by Brouwer’s brother in exchange for free babysitting of his children.
Now that the warm weather is back, Meant Well Books has a plethora of events and pop ups coming up soon.
The one Brouwer is most excited about is this season’s first ‘Reading Party’ where people are invited to gather, bring a book or buy a book and read together as a community in a space that is designed for just that.
The first one of the season will take place on Sunday, July 5th at the field in front of St. Ann’s Academy.
Alongside Meant Well’s truck will be another custom-built Kei truck operated by the hugely popular Routine Coffee, who will be serving caffeinated beverages for the event.
Brouwer added that there will also be a vendor selling summer treats, a local poet writing custom poems, and a local musician playing some ambient music.
Meant Well’s last Reading Party saw more than 200 people sign up and come out to read and gather. The event is free, but she recommends that anyone interested in going sign up so vendors know how many people to expect. She added that all are welcome, including dogs.
Following the Reading Party, Meant Well Books has a myriad of other events and pop ups that Brouwer is excited about, including at the Parkside Hotel on June 25th and 27th, Salt Spring Island on July 18th, in Fairfield on August 18th and at the Malahat Skywalk on August 8th.
“I feel like we really figured out what worked in our first season and this season we are really leaning into the places where community naturally already gathers in Victoria to try to make it an opportunity for people to connect in those spaces,” Brouwer explained.
“We’re also stretching and going further than we did last summer. Last season we really focused on the Victoria core, and this year we are going out to North Saanich, as far as the Malahat and even out to Salt Spring.”
Another fun opportunity Brouwer is exploring is setting up an “outdoor living room” in Market Square, where Meant Well Books can set up shop periodically, though this has yet to be confirmed.
More events are to come as well! Find out more about Meant Well’s pop ups and Reading Party via their events webpage.
The truck and scooter are all stocked up for the season. Check out their webstore to see what they have before checking out a pop up or order online to get a glimpse of the new book scooter in action!
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