Haven Books

Haven Books is essential for Carleton students. They have coursepacks, textbooks, and other books for your classes, all organized by course code. Some course material is even ONLY available at Haven. It’s only a block away from campus and you can just walk up Sunnyside to get there.
Students can sell their books, and it’s much cheaper to buy ones that are used (if they’re being used again for that course/​semester/​school year). The main problem is that because so many students need to buy books there, it’s far too small to accommodate everyone, and you usually need to wait in a long, long, almost never-​ending line at the beginning of every semester. It also doesn’t have air-​conditioning, which wouldn’t be a problem, except when the space is so limited that you’re usually back-​to-​back and shoulder-​to-​shoulder with other students and it can get really hot and humid.

If you are a student at Carleton U, you need to find Haven Books. The store is located just off campus, along Sunnyside Avenue at the corner of Sunnyside and Seneca. Haven Books sells Carleton textbooks on a consignment basis. That means they are used, but not used in the sense that they are old, out of date or in crappy shape. They are simply books that another student has read and is passing along to you at a reduced price. They do offer some new text books, but only if a prof orders through Haven. And, don’t forget, when you are done with the course, you can consign the textbooks back to Haven and get some money back when/​if someone else buys them (take good care of them!). And don’t pretend that you should keep old textbooks because you might need to reference them again in the future. Let this old former student assure you that old textbooks are only good for propping up lopsided tables and selling at yardsales. I remember driving past Haven Books at the start of the academic year and there was a large line up outside. So, get there early!