Former librarian Flannery Buchanan had always dreamed of opening
her own bookstore, but financial limitations forced her to get inventive: She bought a 1966 Banner camper and turned it into Bluebird Bookstop, a bookstore on wheels. The curated collection includes a little something for everyone—by design.
“Right now times are hard and stressful and I’ve found that people just want human connection,” Buchanan says. “Books are the perfect way to connect with other humans.”
434: Tell me a little about your background and how it led you to the Bluebird Bookstop.
Flannery Buchanan: I trained as a librarian and worked briefly before staying home to raise my four children. My oldest is now 16 and all four are avid readers and bookstore fans. Whenever we travel, we love to find the local bookstores and discuss what we like, what their collection was like. It’s always been a dream for a family bookstore but the financials of owning a bookstore can be tough especially in a high cost-of-living area like Charlottesville/Crozet. So in response, I figured out an asset-light model: no rent, low overhead, take the books to the people! We live in such a beautiful place with so many outdoor meeting places, that it was easy to dream about parking the trailer at vineyards, breweries, markets, anywhere that people are already gathering.
Did you renovate the camper yourself? How long did it take and what was the process like?
Ha! I’m not very handy, but I’ve certainly learned a lot! I bought the camper gutted, however, I tore out the flooring and stripped the roof of old sealant. After that, I turned it over to my contractor John Garland and his team.
What genres of books do you stock in the camper?
I like to think I have a little bit of everything, something for everyone. I carry mostly new and notable because of the space constraints and so that whenever you walk in, there’s something fresh and new that maybe you haven’t seen before. We have a very healthy and diverse Young Adult and middle grade section. It is a family business, and my children love to help me curate those sections. They have great taste and they’re great salespeople.
Where can we find you?
I am usually parked every weekend at vineyards, breweries, coffee shops, markets. I keep a calendar on my website and I post every week on Instagram where I will be. I also love to do special events like author events, Bookish meetups, and book clubs.
