A new chapter begins for book lovers in Montgomery County next week as Next Chapter Collective celebrates the grand opening of its mobile independent bookstore.
Owner Jessica Walcott will officially launch the bookstore with a grand opening celebration on Friday, July 24, from 6pm to 8pm at Waredaca Brewing Company, located at 4017 Damascus Road in Laytonsville. The event will feature a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Olney Chamber of Commerce, raffles, free merchandise, books, book-themed gifts, and beverages from the brewery, including craft beer, hard lemonade, and frozen rosé slushies.
For Walcott, who grew up in Silver Spring before moving to Olney to raise her family, bringing an independent bookstore to the community has been years in the making. “Olney deserves one,” she said. “This is a community full of readers and families, and we have no independent bookstore. The nearest options require a trip outside the neighborhood, and for a lot of families that barrier is just enough to make it not happen. I wanted to remove that barrier entirely and bring the books directly to where people already are.”
Rather than opening a traditional storefront, Walcott chose to launch with a mobile bookstore. “I don’t have the capital for a brick and mortar, and I wanted to test whether Olney actually wanted this before committing to four walls,” she said. “The mobile bookstore lets me build the community first, show up where people already are, and prove the concept.”
That vision quickly gained momentum through a successful Kickstarter campaign.“When the campaign funded, that’s when it became real,” Walcott said. “People believed in this before there was anything to point to. I think about that every day. It really is what pushes me.”
Visitors to Next Chapter Collective can expect a curated selection of children’s, young adult, and adult fiction spanning genres including romance, fantasy, thrillers, and more, along with book-themed merchandise. Walcott says she also plans to expand into story times, book clubs, and community events. “I want it to feel like a discovery, not a transaction… like a moment in time where a reader was in the right place at the right time,” she said.
Representation has also been a guiding principle in selecting inventory. “I want every reader who comes to Next Chapter Collective to find themselves on these shelves,” Walcott said. “I also listen to the community. If people are talking about a book, I want to have it.”
Supporting local authors is another priority. The bookstore has already partnered with local author Sara Goodman Confino and plans to feature a dedicated display highlighting authors from the region.
While the trailer marks the first step, Walcott says the long-term dream remains unchanged.“My goal is a third space in the heart of Olney where you can come in, grab a cup of coffee and a table, and write your next novel or cool off from the heat with your little ones and everything in between,” she said. “I want Next Chapter Collective to be a place people feel like they belong.”
