Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) recently announced an Oct. 14 board meeting led to the decision to discontinue Haven’s cherished book service.
CUSA president Mohamed ‘Faris’ Riazudden said the association’s decision to discontinue the book service came after an internal analysis showing several years of profit loss.
Haven, formerly Haven Books, then Haven Books & Café, struck bargains for students looking for inexpensive alternatives to buying new textbooks. It also offered students the opportunity to sell their used textbooks and receive commission on the sale through their consignment service.
Both operations will be fully closed by April 30, 2024 according to CUSA’s website.
“Haven is not disappearing, we’re evolving,” Riazudden said. “The cafe will still be running, [and] no student jobs will be affected by this.”
According to Haven’s website, co-founders C.K Chang, Kevin Bozzo and Andy Blair “decided to create their own student-run bookstore” in the summer of 2002 after “believing that [local] prices weren’t fair.”
Riazudden said CUSA is changing Haven to “support and benefit the students” while being financially sustainable.
He added student-run businesses have been affected since the pandemic, “just like other small businesses in the world.”
“There were a lot of trends in university and student owned bookstores across the country,” Riazudden said, referring to the closing of Waterloo’s student-run used bookstore.
Romina Conde, third-year Carleton student, said she wasn’t surprised.
Conde said she bought used textbooks from Haven in her first year after noticing professors were frequently asking for rentable or purchasable textbooks.
In following years, she said more professors would share free reading material on Brightspace instead of making students buy the books themselves.
Conde acknowledged while most students benefited from free material, she said “it’s obviously a loss for Haven and CUSA.”
Conde also said she had success using the consignment service for her first-year textbooks, as that material was “used in recurring years.”
But Haven Books denied her second-year textbooks because the curriculum material changed. She said this happens regularly.
“I save a lot of money using [Haven’s] services,” Conde said. “I know I won’t use these textbooks again. Now those books are sitting in my room because nobody will buy them.”
Riazudden said Haven is “adding a new business model” by introducing a co-working and creator studio called Haven Connect, located above the café.
Haven Connect will be “a welcoming and inclusive environment where you can connect with like-minded individuals and expand your professional network,” according to an Instagram post.
“[The space] has garnered a lot of interest from a lot of different groups on campus like the Innovation Hub and other student entrepreneurs who are looking for co-working space,” Riazudden said.
CUSA has not announced when this new space will open.
Featured image by Myles Bodie/The Charlatan.
