Community
Built to Show Up for Boise
Curbside Books was built on the idea that bookstores shouldn't only live in buildings.
So we bring books to coffee shops, breweries, wineries, markets, downtown streets, neighborhood gatherings, and charity drives, the places people are already out living their lives.
Sometimes someone comes for a latte and leaves with a novel, and sometimes they just pet Snoots (also a valid outcome).
So What Does That Look Like?
Yes, we're a mobile bookstore. But we're also interested in making Boise feel a little more connected, creative, and bookish.
Already Happening
- Art Trolley Gallery Night, a monthly rotating gallery inside the trolley with the Downtown Boise Association
- The free traveling tiny library (it rides along to every stop)
- Books for the Trolley donation days, with donations going to the tiny library and the United Way children's book drive
- The Movie Night Book Club (the first rule of this book club: nobody has to read the book)
- Reading retreats (the first one's rooms went fast)
- Pop-ups with Boise coffee shops, wineries, markets, and neighborhood favorites
In the Works
- Meet the Author evenings
- The Curbside Book Club, the quiet kind: once a month at a different spot around Boise, everyone brings their own book (the list hears the first date first)
- Regular routes to retirement communities and neighborhoods without a bookstore nearby (the goal this whole thing is building toward)
A Bookstore Can Be a Third Place
Independent bookstores have always been places people linger: they browse, they talk, they accidentally stay 45 minutes, and somewhere in there a stranger turns into a book recommendation.
We just added wheels.
Sometimes the trolley is a bookstore, sometimes she's a tiny art gallery, and sometimes she's a conversation starter parked outside a coffee shop.
We like that for us.
Community Highlights
Some of our favorite ways the trolley gets to be more than shelves.
Art Trolley Gallery Night
A monthly rotating art show inside the trolley, with the Downtown Boise Association. Local artists show for free and keep 100% of their sales.
The Traveling Tiny Library
A free take-one shelf that rides along to every single stop, so there's always a book for anyone, no purchase required.
Books for the Trolley
Donation days that send your finished books back out through the tiny library and the United Way children's book drive. How it works →
Free Community Stops
No-fee pop-ups hosted by cafes, markets, schools, and community spaces. You provide the spot, we bring the bookstore.
And the long-term goal: regular routes to retirement communities and neighborhoods without easy bookstore access. It's a work in progress, and every book sold gets us closer.
Ways to Work With Us
Got an idea? We love those.
For Authors
Want us to consider carrying your book or host a future signing? Start with our author submission form.
Author submission form →For Artists
Interested in being featured at an Art Trolley Gallery Night? You'd show for free and keep 100% of your sales. We'd love to see your work.
Artist submission form →For Schools & Nonprofits
Planning a literacy event, fundraiser, reading celebration, or community day? Let's talk.
Start the conversation →For Businesses & Private Events
Want the trolley at your office, wedding, party, resident event, or customer appreciation day? We clean up nice.
Book the trolley →For Sponsors
Want your business behind a movie night, gallery night, or retreat? Sponsors help us make events better without raising the ticket price, and Boise's book people notice who shows up for them.
Ask about sponsoring →For Local Makers & Vendors
Sell your treats, prints, or wares alongside the trolley at one of our events. When the fit is right, we'll find you a spot.
Tell us what you make →Let's Make Something Special
If you're planning something thoughtful, creative, community-minded, or a little unusual, we'd love to hear about it.