Meant Well Books is a travelling book truck run by a UVic writing grad and her nine-year-old daughter
Photo courtesy of Melanie Brouwer.
While exploring Vancouver Island this summer, keep an eye out for a small green truck equipped with custom shelves stocked with books. Meant Well Books is Victoria’s only mobile bookstore, created by UVic writing grad Melanie Brouwer and her nine-year-old daughter.
Meant Well Books has a rotating inventory of books, including fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books, most of which can be browsed on their website.
The pair launched the book truck in June 2025 using a customized 2006 Suzuki Carry. This season, Meant Well Books expanded their fleet with a book scooter, intended for smaller pop-ups or neighbourhood events.
In an interview with the Martlet, Brouwer shared that Meant Well Books grew out of her dream of owning a bookstore, combined with the reality of working a full-time job and being a single mother. After importing the Suzuki from Japan, her brother made and attached the shelves for the truck — and later the scooter — in exchange for having Brouwer babysit her nieces.
When Brouwer came across the scooter, she knew she wanted to use it for their business. “The inspiration for the design really came from the community itself and a lot of the little libraries that are so loved around Victoria, so we really wanted to shape it around that,” she said.
Brouwer hopes to use the scooter to give back to the community. With their book scooter’s first trip falling on Father’s Day weekend, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to a local nonprofit for single parents.
Brouwer has faced some unexpected obstacles while running Meant Well Books. One of the more surprising challenges they have dealt with is the rain. “Being on the West Coast, I would love to do this year-round, but it really has to be a lot more seasonal and just have to always preface to people that it’s weather dependent,” she said.
Brouwer’s daughter has played an important part since the start — even their logo was based on one of her drawings.
“Something that she’s done since the very beginning is help me pick out all the kids’ books, so she plays a very active role in that and … making sure that it’s books that kids actually want,” Brouwer noted.
“I’m a single parent, so it’s often just the two of us, [and] she’s there with me every step of the way. I quite literally wouldn’t be able to do it if I didn’t have her enthusiasm and support,” Brouwer said. “Even before we opened, we were stamping the shopping bags together with our logo in the kitchen.”
Brouwer added that her daughter’s role also includes “bringing the cuteness and the personality” to pop-up events.
In a statement to the Martlet, Brouwer’s daughter shared why she enjoys being the unofficial “Head of Kids Books.”
“It’s fun and it’s exciting,” she wrote. “Every single day I can choose a new book to have there if I want or I can keep them the way they are…. It feels good to help people that are my age find books they enjoy.”
Meant Well Books is a community-oriented business. “For me, a big goal with the book truck is to create opportunities for people to connect through stories,” Brouwer said. “I think what really surprised me is just how naturally the community has formed around books and the book truck.”
Brouwer recalls chatting with a pair of customers, assuming they had been lifelong friends based on their interactions, only to learn they had met at one of Meant Well Books’ events a few weeks earlier.
Some of Brouwer’s favourite events to co-host are their Reading Parties. “We just offer [a] beautiful space for people to come together and read together in communities,” she explained. While reading is often perceived as a solitary activity, Brouwer said their Reading Parties are some of their most successful events in creating opportunities for connection.
Their upcoming Reading Party will take place on Sunday, July 5, in the field in front of St. Ann’s Academy.
Brouwer explained that she has two main goals for their second season: broadening their scope and being intentional with where they pop up with the truck and scooter.
Brouwer and her daughter will bring the book truck and scooter to a variety of locations around Vancouver Island — and will even head to Salt Spring Island this July. “I’m just a naturally ambitious person and I would love to continue to broaden what we do, so we’re going bigger this summer,” she said.
You can find Meant Well Books at one of their upcoming events, including at the Parkside Hotel & Spa on June 27 and July 25, Kid Sister Ice Cream in Esquimalt on June 28, the Malahat Skywalk on Aug. 8, and the Ship Point Market in Victoria’s Inner Harbour on Aug. 16.
