Used Book Store

Huge selection. Great prices.

Check back often. New titles shelved every day.
Located at 5103 Carpinteria Avenue, next to the library.

We have plenty of new-to-us books each week thanks to generous donations from our customers and community. Our volunteers even supply read-this suggestions for anyone looking for a different author.

Check out the wide array of choices. Enjoy this gem of a bookstore!

Store Hours

Prices

Most paperback books	$1	Find exceptional materials at special prices near the desk and free magazines on the cart by the front door.
Most hardcover books	$2
DVDs	$1

Cheers for Our Volunteers

Volunteers really make a difference ... inside the book store every day and out on the lawn during our monthly book sales.

Art on the Walls

Enjoy the work of local artists on the walls of the book store. All art sales from the bookstore benefit Friends of the Library, yet another way we are working to support the Carpinteria Branch Library.

Featured Artist Kevin Hosseini
Kevin Hosseini, Carpinteria’s best known teen painter, is our featured artist at the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore from now until the end of June. Hosseini began painting when he was 9 years old and now, at age 18, the prolific painter has earned several accolades for his art and had his works featured in impressive art venues around the world. Painting has given the autistic teen an important outlet, increasing his confidence and allowing him to express himself. His works will hang at the bookstore through the month of June and can be viewed during normal business hours.

Previously Featured Artists

Arturo Tello	Carpinteria landscape painter Arturo Tello was born on December 5, 1954 in Tulancingo Hidalgo, a town near Mexico City. He began his formal training as a figure painter, but his innate feeling for the land drew him inexorably toward depicting the shifting light and natural forms of his adopted country's coastline and bluffs. His strong belief in the importance of preserving open spaces led him to help to form the Oak Group. Affiliated around the venerable Ray Strong, this group of landscape painting friends works to celebrate and preserve the natural environment through their paintings. "Painting is my passion, the way I capture and celebrate life. It is a journey of discovery and adventure, an exploration of the spaces that surround us and of our own interior." Arturo is the Gallery Director at the Palm Loft Gallery in Carpinteria and his work is represented by the Easton Gallery in Montecito.
Whitney Brooks Abbott	Whitney Abbott spent much of her childhood in Carpinteria, CA, drawing the life she found around her on her family's avocado and lemon ranch. Whitney shows her work with the Santa Barbara based Oak Group, and at the Easton Gallery in Montecito. "Painting, for me, is a celebration of our material world in a very spiritual sense. As a painter, I study the interaction of light against surface, and take this material relationship into the personal world of my imagination."
Sharon Schock	Local artist Sharon Schock's oil paintings feature refreshing local scenes and landscapes. Sharon lives and works in Carpinteria. She paints a small painting daily in order to keep a loose perspective. Her work shows her dedication and fresh approach to the beautiful and vibrant community we live in. A portion of each painting sold during the show will benefit the Carpinteria Library.
Lety Garcia	Lety Garcia's vibrant oil paintings depicting streetscapes of Carpinteria and elsewhere were on display from October 1st, 2011 through the end of the year. Garcia uses bright colors and bold shapes to communicate a fresh perspective on familiar scenes. A fan of painting since an early age, Garcia says that the smells of oil paints, paint thinner, linseed and walnut oil never fail to elicit a sense of excitement for her art. "I always look forward to going back to that kind of very focused attention, loss of time awareness, and just being in the zone," she said. Garcia is a graduate of the U.C. Santa Barbara fine arts program. She lives in Goleta, but hopes to return soon to the place that feels like home, Carpinteria.
Gary Campopiano	Gary Campopiano's striking landscape paintings of the Central Coast were the first to hang on the walls of the Used Book Store. Gary's paintings have become very well known and collected. He taught art for over 35, is a board member of Carpinteria Valley Arts Council, and is now creating his own series of work. View a selection of his work on Gary's web site.

Please help support us.

100% of the income from the Used Book Store goes directly to support the Carpinteria library.

Donations of books and $$$ are greatly appreciated! Please see our Support page for more ways you can help.