How do I know what books I need for the Fall?
Visit this page to find a list of all the Fall courses and the text(s) needed for each course. The books you need for Winter term are listed separately.
What happens if I can’t see the course I have chosen on the list?
Please let us know (bc.bookstack@queensu.ca) and we’ll find out the information you need.
Are there cheap copies for me to buy?
Yes, in addition to new books, we also sell secondhand books, and even have free books to give away, but stocks are limited for all of these so if you want cheap or free books, please order early:
- Lease – you can hire a book rather than buy it. You pay for the lease and return the book to us at the end of term undamaged. Not all books are available as leases though – usually the titles that are over £50 new, with quite a few exceptions, such as books which come with e-texts.
- Used – secondhand books are about half the price of new ones.
- Used – damaged – these are books which have been written in or had coffee spilled over them. If you don’t mind other students’ notes or highlights, these are excellent value as we give them away for free.
- Used – donated – these are books that students from previous years have donated, and so we give them away for free. Donated books may be damaged or undamaged.
Orders are fulfilled on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, so once used and free stock is gone, there will be no more to take its place.
How do I use the website?
Work out which books you need to buy by looking at the Courses in Fall 2022 page and the equivalent for Winter once released, if you wish to buy your books for Winter term at the same time, but you don’t have to.
Add them to your basket by changing the copy to ‘1’ for the copy you want to buy and click on ‘Add to basket’.
Once all your books are in your basket, view your basket and click on ‘Proceed to checkout’. At this point you will be asked to set up an account. Register with your name, Queen’s email address and your home address and your account will be good to go. Then proceed to checkout to pay for your order with a credit card.
Once you have placed your order, you’ll be sent an email confirming the order was placed. If you don’t get an email confirming the order (and please check your spam folder as sometimes the confirmation ends up in there), we probably have not received it, so please place your order again.
Once we have processed the order, you will receive another email confirming that your books are waiting for you at Bader College.
How do I pay for the books?
You can pay for your books through the website using a credit card: Visa, Mastercard and American Express are all accepted.
I tried to pay for my items but my payment has been declined. What do I do?
If your credit card payment is not accepted at checkout, please do the following. First check that your credit card is a Visa, Mastercard or American Express. These are the only cards which are accepted. Then check that your account registered address matches excatly that of your credit card registered address. If it does and the payment is still not accepted, are you able to try a different credit card? If not, then please contact us on bc.bookstack@queensu.ca to let us know that you have put through an order, but that the payment failed. We will then advise on how to proceed.
I placed an order but did not get an email confirming my order. Where is it?
Please check your spam folder – the confirmation email may have ended up in there. If you can’t see a confirmation email, please contact us on bc.bookstack@queensu.ca and we will check whether your order has been received.
What about the terms and conditions of buying though the Book Stack?
These are available here.
Where and when do I collect the books?
Your books and any stationery you have ordered will be made available to you in your room when you arrive at Bader College.
Will you post my books to me at home so I can read them before I get to Bader College?
No, I’m afraid not. It’s too expensive for us to send books across to you, and anyway, you’ll only have to bring them back with you in your suitcase.
Is there a deadline for placing my order?
Not really, but the sooner you place your order, the sooner we can get your books in stock and the more likely they are going to be available for you at the start of term. For this reason we recommend you place your order this year by 30th August.
You can place your order when you arrive on campus, if you wish, but if we don’t have the books in stock (and we don’t tend to keep piles of books lying around) then you may have to wait three weeks for the books to arrive, by which time you may have missed some of your readings.
Do I have to buy my books through the Book Stack?
Absolutely not. Buy them from wherever you wish. Just note though, please, that we will not buy your books back from you at the end of the year as part of our Book Buy-Back scheme if you have not bought the books through us in the first place.
What is the Book Buy-Back scheme?
If you buy your books through the Book Stack, we’ll probably buy them back from you for 30% of the price you paid for them. Find out more about the scheme in the terms and conditions.
How do I ask you further questions?
Contact us by email on bc.bookstack@queensu.ca and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.