Dreams on wheels — Mobile bookstore grows from lifelong passion

For as long as Bailey Whitney can remember, books have been more than stories on a shelf.

They were bedtime traditions, weekend trips to bookstores and overflowing bookshelves at home. They sparked conversations with family, inspired a career in education and, eventually, became the foundation of a dream she never imagined she’d pursue.

Today, that dream rolls around town inside a renovated trailer known as The MOOving Bookstore, bringing hundreds of books — and a love of reading — to communities across northeast Wyoming.

“I hope that is an exciting experience for people, and they get to find something that they love,” Whitney said. “Even if they just come and have a conversation with me about a book.”

The Newcastle High School graduate officially opened the traveling bookstore earlier this summer, combining her lifelong passion for books with her desire to serve the community she has always called home.

The idea may seem like a natural fit now, but Whitney admitted she never envisioned herself becoming a business owner.

“Newcastle is small enough that when you start to plan your life, you don’t realize what is out there and what you really can do. I never thought I would be opening my own business,” she said.

Leading up to the bookstore opening, Whitney followed another passion.

As a special education teacher, she has spent her career helping children learn and grow. That background, she said, has only strengthened her belief in the importance of books and literacy.

“I think a lot of that comes from my background in teaching,” she said. “I hope that everyone gets a chance to learn to love to read.”

Whitney sees the bookstore not as a replacement for local literacy resources but as another way to encourage reading.

“Our library here is so important, and the bookmobile,” she said. “I am just adding a place where people could buy a book and keep it.”

The mobile bookstore carries between 400 and 500 books at any given time, with inventory constantly changing as new titles arrive and popular books sell out.

“I have had to reorder books all the time,” Whitney said. “I constantly rotate the shelves.”

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Choosing those books, however, has been one of the biggest challenges.

Every customer has different interests, making it impossible to recommend just one title.

“Every time I have people ask me, ‘What do you recommend?’ I can never pick one specific book because there are so many that I love,” she said.

If there’s one author she finds herself recommending often, it’s Abby Jimenez.

The enthusiasm Whitney brings to conversations about books doesn’t surprise those who have known her the longest.

“Our family has always been readers,” said her mother, Christa Lacey. “Out of all my kids, she was the most into reading.”

That love was nurtured from an early age.

“It was something that we would do every night before bed,” Lacey said. “We always had bookshelves overflowing.”

Trips to bookstores quickly became family traditions.

“We were always going to little libraries and bookstores,” she said with a laugh. “The Scholastic Book Fair was always a big deal in our family. They were able to buy books or nothing.”

Those experiences helped shape Whitney into the reader — and eventually the entrepreneur — she is today.

Harry Potter was one of the first series she couldn’t put down, and reading became more than entertainment.

“I struggled with reading as a child,” Christa said. “I wanted to make sure my kids didn’t struggle with that as well.”

Whitney’s father, Patrick Lacey, said books weren’t the only thing his daughter gravitated toward growing up.

“She has always had a lot of side jobs since she was 18,” he said. “She has always incorporated her hobbies into her side hustles. It ended up even paying for some of her hobbies in turn.”

So when Whitney shared her idea for a traveling bookstore, the response wasn’t hesitation — it was support.

“I think she has seen me do well with mine, so she wants to start her own as well,” Patrick said.

The business itself began with a simple video.

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“She saw it on TikTok, showed it to me and asked if we could do something like it,” Patrick recalled. “I said, ‘Of course I can.’”

What followed became a father-daughter project.

Patrick helped Whitney establish her LLC before turning his attention to transforming an ordinary trailer into a charming mobile bookstore.

“Fifty-fifty in building it,” he said. “I built it and she helped me.”

For Patrick, the project became more than construction.

“I took it as a step to teach her to use hand tools,” he said.

Although he has some experience in construction and home remodeling, converting a trailer into a bookstore came with new challenges.

“Rebuilding a trailer I had never done,” Patrick said.

Among the most difficult tasks were installing the ceiling and figuring out how to securely mount bookshelves capable of holding hundreds of books while traveling Wyoming highways.

Christa watched the transformation unfold a little differently.

“I would come home from work and get to see the progress,” she said.

When the project was finally complete, she immediately noticed how well it reflected her daughter’s personality.

“I thought it was really cute,” Christa said. “But, of course, she is a perfectionist, so there were all these little things she noticed.”

The playful cow theme decorating the trailer made perfect sense to the family.

“Incorporating all the cows was fun,” Christa said. “She has always loved cows, so it was fitting.”

Watching customers line up outside during opening weekend made months of planning and construction worthwhile.

“Just seeing the line of cars and people inside,” Patrick said when asked about his favorite moment since the bookstore opened.

“It makes me very appreciative,” Christa added. “It makes me glad of where we live.”

The response exceeded even the family’s expectations.

“The first day she opened she did so well,” Christa said. “After the second day she needed to order more books already.”

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Whitney hopes the bookstore offers more than a place to browse shelves.

She wants it to become a place where conversations begin, recommendations are shared and readers discover stories they may never have picked up otherwise.

For Whitney, that sense of connection is just as important as the books themselves.

“It has been very affirming that way,” she said of the community’s response.

Although the bookstore has quickly become a passion project, Whitney said there is an even bigger reason she chose to pursue it.

“My daughter, Finnlee, is a huge part of following through with my dreams too as I would like to set a good example for her,” she said. “She is 4 now and both my job at the school and now this new business have allowed me to be able to acquire new knowledge to bring home to help my family grow.”

Books are already a central part of life at home.

“We read together regularly, so it’s always fun when she gets to come in the store and check out the books too,” Whitney said.

Her husband, Jerry, and Finnlee have also become part of the business behind the scenes.

“My husband, Jerry, and daughter, Finnlee, are both so important to me and are a huge part of my ‘why’ for anything,” she said. “They get to be a part of the behind the scenes from opening boxes, scanning inventory, adding things in the trailer and setting up.”

That family support extends well beyond her own household.

Patrick said seeing people enjoy something he helped build has been especially rewarding.

“Everything Bailey has ever done she has been successful at,” he said. “I think it says a lot about the kind of person she is. We are very proud of her.”

Christa echoed those sentiments.

“We can’t express how proud we are of that kid,” she said. “As a parent, as a community member we are very proud of her.”

Rather than simply stocking shelves, she regularly asks customers what they enjoy reading and adjusts her inventory to match.

Friend, customer and former co-worker Nick Gray said that willingness to listen is part of what makes the bookstore unique.

“I admire her determination,” Gray said. “She never gave up, she always asked questions. She is always out there asking the community, ‘What genre do you like?’”

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He believes Whitney has created something Newcastle has been missing.

“I think it is her chance to give back to the book lovers of our community,” Gray said. “To do something local.”

Gray first heard Whitney talking about the idea two years ago while the pair taught together.

Seeing the finished bookstore has been gratifying.

“I am very thrilled with what she has done,” he said. “She had a dream, and she is an avid book reader.”

He also credits Whitney’s online presence for helping the business connect with customers.

“I love the social media aspect she brings to it,” Gray said.

Whitney maintains the MOOving Bookstore on both Facebook and Instagram, where she posts her weekly schedule, locations, hours and newly arrived inventory so customers know where to find the traveling bookstore throughout the week.

Gray said the business has quickly become something the community can rally around.

“It is something that brings attention to Newcastle,” he said. “It is something that we need.”

He also appreciates Whitney’s willingness to help readers find exactly what they’re looking for.

“She will go to the ends of the earth to get you what you are looking for,” Gray said.

For Jessica Troftgruben, Whitney’s former eighth grade English teacher, the bookstore feels like the natural continuation of a story that began years ago.

“Bailey was one of my students back when she was in my eighth-grade English class,” Troftgruben said. “At that time, she already loved to read and discuss books, but she was also passionate about helping others and giving back to our community.”

One memory has stayed with the teacher over the years.

“As a teenager, she spearheaded a fundraiser for the Helping Hands Foundation,” Troftgruben said.

Looking back, she isn’t surprised to see Whitney combining her passions into one business.

“It was no surprise to see her continuing to pursue and build off of the values and hobbies that bring her happiness,” Troftgruben said.

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She believes Whitney’s work as both a special education teacher and bookstore owner makes her an important advocate for literacy.

“As an advocate for literacy, I appreciate how she is role modeling the importance of literacy and the enjoyment of reading to her young students and their families while developing a new business in our community,” Troftgruben said.

She added that Whitney is “successfully bridging personal and professional fulfillment together through being an entrepreneur and a special education teacher.”

Troftgruben also hopes customers recognize the story behind the bookstore itself.

“Just like the stories they are about to read, this young teacher, mother and entrepreneur has a beautiful story of how and why her business was created,” she said.

Whitney hopes to continue growing that story.

For now, her goal is simple.

“Just continuing to do what I am doing right now,” she said. 

She has no shortage of encouragement.

Patrick hopes the bookstore eventually expands beyond Newcastle and surrounding towns.

“Hopefully, she can travel the state a little more,” he said.

Christa already has plans if an even bigger dream comes true.

“If she can open a brick-and-mortar, I would probably quit my job and go help her,” she said with a laugh.

Patrick also hopes Whitney’s success sends a message to others with entrepreneurial ambitions.

“I hope it encourages others that think that living in a small town means you can’t do something like this,” he said. “Because you can.”

For Whitney, however, success has never been measured only by sales or the number of books on her shelves.

It’s found in helping a child discover a favorite story, recommending the perfect novel to a customer or watching Finnlee flip through books inside the trailer that began as an idea and became reality.

After all, every great story begins with someone willing to turn the first page. For Bailey Whitney, that first page has grown into a traveling bookstore that’s helping others discover stories of their own.

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