On a typical Sunday down by the Los Angeles River, just off the bike path and mere steps away from bakeries and coffee shops, there is a sign that reads “It’s a bookstore in a van down by the river.” There lies Orphan Books, a bookstore in a van that rolls into Frogtown to book lovers’ delight.

After 15 years of working at bookstores including Borders, The Last Bookstore and Chevalier’s Books, Katie Orphan, owner of Orphan Books, was ready to take the wheel.

“I worked at a number of other places and know what I would really like is to do this for myself. It’s fun doing it for other people, but I can come and go; this is always the owner’s spot,” Orphan said. “And I was like, ‘No, I would like that for me. I would like to take all of the lessons I’ve learned over the years of being a bookseller and make my own spot.’”

Orphan looked at potential brick-and-mortar locations, but the idea of a mobile bookstore called to her more. She loved the possibility of flexibility and being able to set up shop wherever she wanted.

“There are a lot of neighborhoods in L.A. that do not have their own bookstores,” Orphan said. “[It] gives me the freedom to be in a lot of places that wouldn’t otherwise have their own bookstore.”

Orphan put the mobile bookstore together herself, hand building the shelves that line the navy blue van. She asked her sister, a middle school math teacher, to figure out the angles of the shelves and displays and to help build it all out.

Orphan’s family helped build every aspect of the van, down to the signage. The van sports an open/closed sign drawn in crayon on a piece of pink construction paper designed by one of Orphan’s nieces.

Out of the van’s back doors, Orphan has carts with bird guides and butcher paper-wrapped surprise books. Past the baskets hanging off the door, the wood-panelled interior has hand-painted pink, orange and green shelves with neat rows of fiction, romance and nonfiction books. The books are curated by Orphan, displaying her taste and emphasizing women’s voices, underrepresented authors and banned books.

“As soon as I saw the words ‘book van’ together, I was sold,” said Victoria Steger, the owner and studio director of Forager Crafts, one of the locations Orphan Books operates. “It’s kind of this beautiful, old vintage van. Even from the outside, I look at it, and I think it’s pretty eye-catching, but if you get a peek inside … it’s just the most charming, perfect little library nook that you’ve ever seen.”

Orphan hosts popups at Forager Crafts in Frogtown every Sunday, as well as at Three Sisters Coffee & Tea in Burbank every other Saturday.

Belle Arroyo and Chase Legorreta are two customers who visited Orphan Books in Burbank. Arroyo bought two books and loved the decorations inside the van, and Legorretta said the van was the perfect place for a date.

Kristen Sagona, the co-owner of Three Sisters Coffee & Tea, said she’s seen lots of reactions like those from Arroyo and Legorreta, and Orphan has started to get its own regular customers.

“Everybody just flips out. They get beyond excited that this is a bookstore right there, available to them,” Sagona said.

Orphan’s week begins Monday, reviewing sales and placing new book orders. She spends the middle of the week dealing with administration, social media and renovating the van. Friday afternoon, she loads up for the weekend popups.

“As the only employee, I get to spend all of my active time chatting about books with people, and it is the best thing ever,” Orphan said. “By the end of my extroverted hours, I’m like, ‘Yeah, now I’m ready for a nap.’”

With events like storytime for small children, the van is a hit with families, Steger said. She said one of the children of the employees at Forager Crafts is “the biggest fan” of the book van and owns several books that Orphan has recommended to him. Though he might not be able to speak yet, he loves to babble about what he’s reading.

“That was probably his first bookstore experience, and so I’m sure he’s going to be confused in a few years that not every bookstore is a bookstore on wheels,” Steger said.

At the Festival of Books, Orphan Books will be at Booth 280 — or rather, Orphan Books will be Booth 280. The van is too large to fit beneath the standard tents. Ahead of the festival, Orphan is preparing for a rush of customers.

“I am alternating between being very excited and also being very worried that I’ll run out of inventory. There’s only so many places I can jam additional books to put out on those shelves as they sell,” Orphan said.

Orphan hosted her first silent book club by the L.A. River on April 16, and she said she plans to host more. She’s also had interest in having the book van come to birthday parties. Orphan wants to make the bookstore her full-time job, but she said from working at The Last Bookstore, she knows word of mouth can take time.

“You do it because you love it, and it’s not really sustainable as a career if you don’t love it,” Orphan said. “I love helping people find the right book for them, whether that’s a book they came in wanting, or, even better, a book where they have an idea of the feeling they want or the type of story they want, and being able to put something in their hands that hopefully they will love.”