We found Seattle’s fastest bookstore! Introducing Blue Kettle Books, a bookshop on wheels.
The little bus travels around to local hotspots and gatherings, bringing the gift of reading right to you. Have an event or a party coming up? You can also request Blue Kettle to stop by.
The name “Blue Kettle” was inspired by the sight of a soothing tea kettle alongside a stack of weathered novels. “Blue” the bookmobile is a shuttle bus, converted into a traveling bookstore filled with a rich trove of buzzy, new books and off-radar classics for all ages.
“The impetus behind Blue Kettle bookmobile was to bring books to as many people in as many communities as possible,” said owner Sarah Nau. “Third places like bookstores are in decline, especially with the rise of bigger conglomerates like Amazon.”
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg introduced the concept of the “Third Place” in his 1989 book “The Great Good Place.” It refers to a communal space separate from home or work where people gather for social connection and shared experiences.
“It’s important for communities to be able to have access to books and materials and the things that captured their imagination and expand their horizons,” said Rau. “We sort of figured the best way to do that is through a mobile bookstore as opposed to a brick-and-mortar location.”
Blue Kettle offers new books and is not genre-specific.
“We have everything from board books for babies to children’s books, young adults, teens, all the way through, you know, as high as the age limit wants to go, in all genres. So, we have fiction, nonfiction, and we have cookbooks, we have murder mysteries, we have romance.”
They also have what Rau calls “bookish goods.”
“So, we have note cards and bookmarks and stickers and book-themed candles, magnets, and the like,” she said.
Rau said the most fun but most challenging part of her job is deciding which books to carry.
“Just because Blue is only so big, so we do have to be really careful about what books we stock just because our space is so limited,” she explained. “So, a lot of it is from feedback from community members asking us to stock books and really listening to what community members are saying that they’re reading or what they’re interested in.”
Rau said another great resource is the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.
“Every week, they publish a list of what the top sellers are here in the Pacific Northwest, and that is a really good guide and resource to be able to look to about what people are excited about here in our little corner of the country,” she said.
Blue doesn’t have a regular route. Instead, the van goes to events including street fairs, markets and musical festivals. They also have partnerships with breweries, coffee shops, and other pop-ups.
“We are starting to work more closely with school-based organizations, PTAs in public schools to be able to offer a more equitable book fair to students and families,” said Rau. “And then we even do private events as well, so we’ve had organizations or businesses ask for us to come and sell books for a couple of hours on site for their employees. We’ve done birthday parties, we’ve done block parties.”
Anyone can request that Blue come to their school, workplace, or special event.
“The beauty of being a mobile bookstore is that we do have the option to bring the books to the people,” said Rau.
You can make a bookmobile request by emailing info@bluekettlebooks.com. See their calendar and follow on Instagram, Facebook or shop here.
Susan Wyatt is a freelance writer for Seattle Refined, specializing in pets, gardening and all-around swell stuff in the PNW.
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