It’s not enough for Tracey West that, by her count, she has written at least 200 books for children and teens. As of today, West, the author of the Dragon Masters series for young middle grade readers, is also a bookseller, the co-owner of The Dragon Wagon, a mobile bookstore. Dragon Wagon, with West’s husband, Bill Hancock, at the wheel, will cruise around the western Catskills this summer giving away free new books to young readers; there will also be new books available for sale.
West said that she and Hancock, who moved to the western Catskills area five years ago, decided to launch the Dragon Wagon because of their commitment to making books more easily accessible to children in Delaware County and the surrounding area in one of the most remote reaches of the state. While there are libraries in the communities dotting the region, the closest bookstore is an hour or more drive.
“Parents have told me that a book I wrote may have inspired their reluctant reader to read—probably because that child was able to pick my book out from somewhere,” she said. “I know how important book choice is. Children need a chance to find the book that is going to inspire them to become a reader.” She decided against opening a bricks-and-mortar bookstore because it’s a “time-consuming and expensive proposition” and also because “accessibility is a big deal.” A mobile bookstore, she added, “allows us to bring books everywhere.”
“The impetus for doing the bus now, this year, as opposed to taking our time, is all of the book banning that’s happening,” West said. “It’s so disturbing; it’s preventing kids from seeing themselves in books, or learning about others who are different. And both of those things are important,” she said. “Books can change lives. Books can comfort you and be your friend when you’re lonely. They can open your mind to new ideas and help you become an empathetic person by reading about others’ experiences.”
During a visit from the Dragon Wagon, “Every kid gets a free book. Period,” she explained, “but we know there are going to be kids, their families, who are going to want more books. We didn’t want to take that opportunity away from them, so we felt like we had to operate this as an actual bookstore, where we can buy and sell books and keep the Dragon Wagon fueled.” West and Hancock are financing the book giveaways.
The Dragon Wagon, which is housed inside a refurbished 1979 Dodge B300 school bus, will execute a soft launch this summer that extends into September. Though West initiated a summer reading program at her local library for which she selected the titles read by participants, she does not have previous bookselling experience. She has, however, completed online courses offered by the American Booksellers Association on the business of bookselling.
There are, West said, six library shelves filled with approximately 1,000 books total “representing several hundred titles.” Dragon Wagon has “everything, from board books to teen reads. One of the shelves is totally dedicated to books about dragons, including every book in the Dragon Masters series. After all, we’re the Dragon Wagon; we have to have dragons around.”
Friends of the couple are staffing the register on a volunteer basis, so that West can focus on signing copies of her own books as well as “helping direct kids to books they might be interested in.”
West, who is handling book buying responsibilities, is making her selections in consultation with regional librarians. She said that she wants to make sure “every kid who visits the bus can find themselves in a book.” There are, she said, “books on Black history, books about the LGBTQIA+ community, and books that intersect with cultures and communities from around the world. I want every kid who visits us to find a book they love, and I want them to know that books can be an escape and a powerful tool for learning and for making the world a better place.”
Dragon Wagon is making its inaugural stop at the Cannon Free Library in Dehli, N.Y. on June 20; free books are being given away to those who are participating in the library’s 2023 reading incentive. Three additional stops are scheduled to date: the William B. Ogden Free Library in Walton on June 24; Dirty Girl Farm during the Andes Community Day festival in Andes on August 12; and the Margaretville Cauliflower Festival at Village Park in Margaretville on September 23.
