Popping up on streets around the Treasure Valley, a bright red trolley car sporting green accents and plenty of windows joins other Boiseans on the road. While this trolley might look typical on the outside, if you were to peek into its windows, you’d see something unique: bookshelves.
Curbside Books, the mobile bookstore owned by Dani Scovel, brings books to customers across the Treasure Valley and aims to bring joy and fun to the community.
“I’m out partner[ing] with coffee shops and wineries to add on an unexpected moment with a trolley of books,” Scovel said. “When I grew up on the [northwest] side of town, this didn’t exist — a neighborhood space for people that’s unexpected.”
‘Unexpected’ couldn’t be a better way to describe Curbside Books. The unique business model allows Scovel to reach book lovers while going at her own speed as she grows her brand.
Starting as a kiosk popping up at bars and venues like the Botanical Garden, Scovel quickly cultivated a following. While scrolling through Facebook Marketplace one day, she stumbled upon a trolley for sale, and an idea was born. Through a trolley broker, she found her place of operation — though it needed a lot of TLC.
“That was a process, figuring out how to renovate a trolley, because no one knows what to do with it. How do you build bookshelves to stay while you’re moving around?” Scovel said.
Through trial and error while creating the bookstore on wheels, Scovel looked to the community for answers. The owner of Dee’s Ice Cream Trolley, located in Hyde Park, answered the call and walked Scovel through the early stages of their trolley renovation process.
The Facebook Marketplace post may have made her dream feasible, but Scovel’s first inspiration for a mobile bookstore came from the novel “The Bookshop on the Corner” by Jenny Colgan. The story features a woman who loses her job and reawakens her love of reading by owning a mobile bookstore.
“My world has gotten really small, and what I wanted was to be back in the community,” she said. “That’s really why I stuck with the mobile bookstore idea, and that’s why I want to stay mobile.”
In addition to serving her community, the desire to create a mobile bookstore came in large part from her best friend and grandma, Marie. Growing up, the pair would go to bookstores and libraries to read over coffee and tea. This routine slowed down as she grew older, reaching a point where she couldn’t go out as easily as before. Scovel recalls Marie encouraging her to allow her ideas to come off the page.
“When it got to the point where she couldn’t get to libraries or bookstores anymore, she didn’t want to [bother] anyone,” Scovel said. “I actually have my text messages from her of when the idea happened and reading ‘Bookshop on the Corner.’ She never got to see any of that come to reality.”
In addition to creating a third space for the community and providing an accessible option for individuals with disabilities, Scovel has taken plenty of personal enjoyment from her business. For over 10 years, Scovel’s day job had her coordinating with artists for film and stop-motion projects. Despite being surrounded by artists, there was something she felt was missing in her career: creating.
“I was hoping, through osmosis, I would be able to create something worthy of hanging out with [the artists],” she said. “This is the first time I’ve actually been the one creating, so now it’s my turn to create something.”
With Scovel in the driver’s seat, Curbside Books is bringing Boise book lovers together. Scovel’s website features a calendar showing which coffee shop and bar she’ll park in front of next. The future of Curbside Books is as bright as the trolley headlights, creating a local treasure that Grandma Marie would be proud of.
