Is that a truck? A bookstore? Or both? The Little Charity Book Truck sells books throughout the Twin Cities.

If Rachel Cleveland had been able to get a job at a library, the Little Charity Book Truck might not exist.

“My dream has always been to work in a library or bookstore,” said the Chaska woman, who pursued that dream after a recent health scare. “I actually applied for a whole bunch of positions in libraries here. I must have applied for 10 and never even got an interview. So I thought, ‘This sucks.’ That was actually the impetus for me to do this here.”

“This” is a souped-up 1996 Toyota truck imported from Japan that transforms into a mobile bookstore. Little Charity Book Truck buys new books at a discount, sells them at list price, and donates 40% of the proceeds to two charities: V3 Sports, which is raising money to build a sports complex and swimming pool in north Minneapolis, and The Link, which serves young people struggling with homelessness, sexual exploitation, and the justice system.

Since last May and continuing into October, the Little Charity Book Truck visits 50 to 60 farmers markets, community events and coffee shops, selling bestsellers in a variety of genres. The store stocks several hundred titles and sells as many as 100 books on a good day, like the “record-breaking” day she had at the Stone Arch Bridge Festival.

Similar to a food truck, stops are listed on the website littlecharitybooktruck.org and the truck’s Instagram page, which is also the best place to find out about rain cancellations and schedule changes.

For the book truck to hit the road, many things had to fall into place: Cleveland has a master’s degree in public policy and experience in nonprofit work, so she knew where to look for information on how to get started. She is friends with Angie Ross, the owner of Chapter One Books in Victoria, who gave her advice. Cleveland’s husband, John, is a “car nut” who owns a Toyota and Lexus repair shop in Eden Prairie and knew the perfect truck model. And Cleveland loves giving back, and she knows she’s lucky to be able to do so. All work for the truck is volunteer; she takes no salary.

Even after months of working on the concept, Cleveland says the book truck’s first year is marked by trial and error: “I have these three summer months to figure out as much as I can.”

She suspected that the people who buy asparagus at farmers markets overlapped with people who like to read. And that turned out to be true. On the other hand, she didn’t plan on selling cookbooks, which take up a lot of space and are usually expensive. But the people behind the Maple Grove farmers market thought cookbooks would be a good fit for a place where people value food.

“They thought people could look around the market and find recipes they could use,” Cleveland said. They were right, and Cleveland was “very happy that it turned out they were wrong. Those cookbooks sold like hotcakes.”

She learns what sells and what doesn’t. Family-oriented events, for example, require additional picture books. Not surprisingly, truck rummagers are looking for beach reading. This year’s top sellers are the romance novel “Just for the Summer” by Twin Cities author Abby Jimenez and the comic crime novel “Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies” by Catherine Mack.

Nonfiction is less successful, although nonfiction books that are as moving as novels sell well. Think of Erik Larson, whose “The Demon of Unrest” is doing well, or Cleveland’s favorite book, “Say Nothing” by Patrick Radden Keefe.

And not all farmers markets are the same. At one market, she sold only two books in one day, but the truck was so successful at the Linden Hills Farmers Market that Cleveland plans eight more visits there through October.

Cleveland is an avid customer of independent bookstores, so she works to support them rather than compete with them.

“I was really afraid of stepping on anyone’s toes because I want independent bookstores to thrive,” said Cleveland, whose truck is parked near the Comma bookstore as she opens her shop in Linden Hills. “When people come to the truck and ask for a title I don’t have, I send them to the closest bookstore.”

Nonprofit bookstores may be having a big moment. Books on Central, which sells used books, opened in Faribault last fall and donated proceeds to the United Way. And Cleveland knows of a store/truck in Cincinnati that recently switched to nonprofit work.

The Little Charity Book Truck was expensive to equip, so it’s good that this summer will convince Cleveland that she’s in it for the long haul. (Literally. It’s safe to drive the truck on freeways, but she feels more comfortable avoiding them, so it takes her an hour to get from Chaska to St. Paul.) She’s already looking ahead to next summer’s schedule and has committed to the same charities again for 2025.

“It’s getting really hot out there,” Cleveland said, but she’s not complaining. “Oh my God, no. This was a dream!”