The Noctua Nook Trailer Makes Its Local Debut
‘roving book-haven’ stocks banned books, mythology and more
Imagine being out and about, and stumbling across a tiny bookstore – shelves packed with carefully curated books and merch. This sounds like the plot of a magical novel, but it’s the reality Gilda Bour has created with The Noctua Nook Trailer.
The “roving book-haven” debuted this summer and has already made several stops in the Chippewa Valley and greater western Wisconsin.
Gilda operates the trailer with the help of her son, Holden Bour. Inspiration for the trailer came, in part, from her lifelong love of reading.
“I saw the concept of a mobile book trailer, and it brought me back to my childhood when the bookmobile would visit the small school I attended,” Gilda said, who grew up along the Salinas River in central California.
The Noctua Nook Trailer also provides rural readers with accessibility and choice.
“Bookstores have been closing for many years now, and many small towns do not have bookstores or libraries,” Gilda said. “Not everyone has the luxury of driving to a bookstore. With book bans spreading, it became critical to me to try to get books out into more areas that don’t always have bookstores.
“I also wanted to provide an experience. For me, bookstores are sheer magic. I wanted to try to make the book trailer feel like that for others,” she continued.
This writer can personally attest to the “sheer magic,” as I stopped by The Noctua Nook Trailer at the Boyceville Farmers Market back in August. Both dark and cozy, the trailer packs a lot of atmosphere and merchandise into a small space.
“Our little mobile bookstore carries four main elements: banned books, history, mythology, and romantasy. The reason is that these are what I love and feel are a part of who I am,” Gilda explained.
Banned books including The Handmaid’s Tale share shelf space with the bestseller A Court of Thorns and Roses, zodiac sign necklaces, and book-themed tote bags.
The mobile book trailer isn’t Gilda’s only literary endeavour. She also owns a brick-and-mortar bookstore in downtown Elmwood with the same name. Historically, that bookstore has only been open once a year, during UFO Days each July.
However, starting in October, The Noctua Nook brick-and-mortar will be open regularly on Sundays.
Rather than The Noctua Nook Trailer being an extension to her brick-and-mortar store, it is the opposite. The storefront will always be an extension of what she already brings to locals – on wheels – across the region.
In keeping with the desire to make books accessible to readers, The Noctua Nook trailer has scheduled events this fall and through 2027 and Gilda still hopes to book more.
“A reader should have the choice of what they read, and not have it made for them,” she said.
To learn where The Noctua Nook Trailer will be headed next, or to schedule it for your event, visit thenoctuanook.com or contact owner Gilda Bour at thenoctuanook@gmail.com. The Noctua Book brick-and-mortar store is located at 116 S. Main St. in Elmwood.
