As library planning for renovation/expansion moves forward, the idea of adding a cafe to the library has been raised. This is not a radical idea; many libraries built or renovated in the last decade have included a cafe. They can be very popular features, and in some cases, cause for concern.
I’ve solicited some viewpoints on cafes, included below. (No one wished to play villain, so I have taken up the argument against cafes.) However, this is only the beginning of this discussion. Please add to this debate; your ideas will help us plan as we move ahead.
Against the Cafe [Peter Koonz]
I hesitate to speak out against the idea of a cafe in the library. I’d be more popular if I tied my hair up in a bun and starting saying “Sssshhh” to everyone I came across. Nevertheless, there are a few reasons why a cafe in the library is not a good idea, and I know that there are more than a few students who support this point.
Occasionally, I get a suggestion in the library suggestion box that says something like this:
The library is not a deli. Stop students from bringing food in and acting like this is a restaurant. The smell is overwhelming and I can’t study.
There is no doubt that a balance must be struck, even in a modern library. Many people still come to the library for quiet study and peaceful contemplation. Loud talk, the sounds of unwrapping (candy, sandwiches, etc.), the smells of food — all of these things add to the level of distraction within the environment.
In addition, few people eat everything on a plate (or in a pizza box). The remains attract bugs, rodents, insects, and other nasty things that are better kept away from library patrons and, just as importantly, away from books and journals, which can be destroyed by pests.
Better to keep the cafeteria in the cafeteria.
In Favor of a Library Cafe [Marisa Gitto]
I believe that a library café would enhance the St. Rose community. There are a few reasons why I feel the Neil Hellman Library would benefit by having a café including a relaxed environment, increase patronage, and honestly times are changing. I feel students would like it because the library will become a more relaxed environment. Students always become hungry and thirsty while studying, researching, and writing papers while in the library. Having extra energy from nourishment is always a plus and gives an extra lift especially when getting writer’s block. Who likes leaving the library when you are in the midst of a great study session? Having the café in the library would increase promotion of what an Information Commons is all about.
Secondly, more people would come to use the library if there was a café housed within it. I have seen Butler Library at Columbia University with a café, and it is a very popular place. Many students and faculty use it, and is reminiscent to an old-fashioned, French café where writing, conversation, laughter, and reading for enjoyment take place. Libraries in the 21st century are changing. I believe traditional library settings are on the out. The new generation represents openness. To meet the needs of the future generations at St. Rose, a café in the Neil would establish a creative atmosphere.
So, when you are pondering this idea of whether you think the Neil Hellman Library should or should not have a café, remember the well used adage, “Food for Thought!”
Note: The library currently allows drinks to be brought in to the building in covered containers. Food is NOT allowed.
Against the Cafe [Regina Vertone]
I am opposed to the idea of a library cafe being a part of the new Neil Hellman Library when the library renovations are complete.
One main reason for this lies in the simple fact that the College of Saint Rose already has a cafe and lounge on campus in the Campus Center. As a small campus, library users are fortunate to have a short walk between the library and Campus Center if the urge
for a coffee or cappacino overcomes you.
In the 21st century, college students and library users do have different agendas for using a library than 30 years ago. The way libraries were built 30+ years ago emphasized individual study (with mini study carrels for example) while newer libraries are being designed with larger study rooms in mind for group studying and conferences. Many library directors and administrators are taking note of the signficant decrease in library statistics and users due to the birth of online databases and the World Wide Web since the 1990s. One of the solutions is to put in a library cafe in their libraries but this opens up a lot more problems than its worth.
Having a cafe in the same building of the library ruins the importance of a library. A library is a place where people come to learn, study (alone or in a group) or obtain information. Libraries can be more “social” and accomodating without putting in a cafe. A cafe raises issues of worrying about mice and pests, the smell of food being a distraction and raised noise levels which naturally occurs when food is involved. Plus, the whole idea of having a cafe screams “coffeehouse” and “corporate” in an environment that is often thought of as a nice escape for some people. If students need to escape their partying roommates or simply want a change of scenery, the library will await them.
Libraries can still be the intellectual backbone of a campus community without resorting to the library cafe. Offering better technology and open access to computers, databases and library information instruction sessions, we will be able to give our students what they need and be accomodating for them in a beautiful new setting.
Against the cafe (sort of)
Normally I would be for the idea of a cafe in the library. The modern student expects this service and I think it would help promote an environment that would be more attractive to current students. The caveat is that that food and beverage areas would have to be contained so there would be areas that students who do not want to be around food can also be comfortable and that the food area would have to be well maintained with regular trash pickup and cleaning.
However in the case of the Neil Hellman Library, I believe the proximity to the campus center makes the addition of a cafe in the library unnecessary. I would like a clearly demarcated area where students could eat and believe that covered beverages be allowed throughout the building so students could bring in items from the campus center. An all weather connection to the activities center would make this suggestion more palatable to students.
Another strong vote for No
I have a lot of experience with libraries (academic and public) throughout the state who have installed a cafe. Please do your research carefully, both in NYS and throughout the US. I would guess that 75- 80% of these cafes fail within the first year and wind up eating up valuable and unused library space. Most common reason given? Unrealiable vendor problems/ frequent vendor turn over- Anyone gone to Albany Public Main lately? Other problems cited echo those listed above: noise, smells and rodents. If Columbia University is listed above as a success story, has anyone checked with the director to see how she/he feels about the cafe?
I write in favor of a library cafe. More knowledgeable people than I on these matters have said before that the nature of libraries has changed dramatically in the past couple of years–although I don’t have the circulation numbers for the Hellman library, the national trend of library use points to the idea of a “learning commons,” one that isn’t in conflict with a Starbucks on campus or a library in the conventional sense.
Take a look at this Chronicle of Higher Education from 2001, which chronicles the trend that leads up to the current topic on the prospect of such changes at the Hellman. All the trends discussed in this article have continued: Students go through whole undergraduate–and even graduate–careers without stepping into a college library. Saint Rose students, I am sure, are no exception. The wonderful databases that are available ensure that many patrons will instead have a virtual, online experience with much of their research. Even Interlibrary Loan (ILL) might deliver a PDF file to your digital doorstep. Here’s an emblematic quote from the Chronicle story:
More than ‘drawing students back,’ I would say, is that in the years this article was published, the idea of the library at many colleges has changed into a full-fledged social area.
This is how I define a cafe in a library: a designated are where some food would be eaten. I agree with Peter than most people eat food sloppily, especially when in the throes of study. And that’s why so many college library cafes require food and drink is only allowed in that area. I might even suggest having a cafe might keep food and drink down in the non-cafe areas.
It’s also a place where people can take a break and talk, replenish their coffee cups. A cafe would be just one part of an overall strategy to re-emphasize what a library is and continues to do, which is to be a place for social learning. No matter how solitary research in a library may be, it’s still a social place. It’s also great place to browse–I just went into Hellman and browsed for HG Well’s Experiments in Autobiography and ended up picking up two more titles. That will never go away soon. And study groups will still meet in the Hellman. What harm could a cafe do to all this, other than remind people that’s what a library can do, as well as present other possibilities for social learning?
Thanks, Dan for your well-developed argument. I am a big fan of Sam Demas, and I am keeping a copy of his article From the Ashes of Alexandria What’s Happening in the College Library with all of my materials regarding the library renovation/expansion project. He has a way of sharing his enthusiasm and excitement for academic libraries, and he has an important vision to share. I recommend this article to everyone.
Sam seeks to enliven the library, while celebrating its historic role and keeping a focus on the sometimes competing needs of library users. Regarding library cafes, Demas has this to say, which makes more sense to me than just about anything else I’ve read on the topic:
Thanks for responding, Peter. I think the idea of a cafe is just one part of the continuing conversation on a library’s role. For what it’s worth, I think a cafe in a library would no doubt enhance the library experience and encourage people to come to a library, but as Demas says, it shouldn’t and cannot replace systemic library support.
That being said, college students yearn for a place for social learning, a place where learning outside the classroom can happen. The Hellman has the radio station in-house, which is awesome. And let’s not forget Frequency North this year, which I have loved. That all shouldn’t preclude journal subscriptions and a good reference collection.
I am absolutely a fan of coffee and the library. Sadly, as a commuter with a great deal of time between classes, I find that the library is already a place of chatty social gatherings without a cafe. Since we have one a stone’s throw from the library complete with lovely and lively baristas, loud music and some pretty comfortable couches, please allow me to perserve my only useful on-campus study space.
I was doing a night walk at 8:30pm and sadly noticed that students would not even bother to place their ennormous drinks cups or bottles in the trash can. There are several cups on the tables throughout the library…
The New York Library Association is conducting a survey right now on cafes in libraries and whether or not they are a good idea. Someone should contact them and ask about the findings of their study.
I’m currently at the Bethlehem Public Library, where I’ve been spending tons of time doing make-up work. Every time I leave the library to go get something to eat (and I have to; I can’t work for 9 hours without eating), I lose focus and have a hard time writing again. I have to pack up my laptop, my notes, my books, everything. If all I had to do was grab my laptop and purse and assume no one really wants my illegible notes on child development, and not have to go outside, which changes my mindset, I would get more done. As it is, I either lose time because I have to refocus once I get back, or I don’t write as well, because I’m hungry.
Having a cafe at the library is very different from going over to Starbucks or the Camelot room. Psychologists say you should only use your bed for sleeping, because otherwise your brain becomes accustomed to doing other things, reading or working, and you have a harder time sleeping. I find it difficult to work at home even if I’m alone, because at home I’m used to sitting at the computer to check my Facebook, read the paper, talk to people. My computer-library mindset is for work, and a cafe that I only go to when at the library (and thus probably working) would not interrupt my thinking in the same way.
I have read all of the arguments for and against the cafer in the library and I’m still kind of torn, but I’ll give my opinion anyway.
I think that maybe if you put the cafe on the side of the library and make it so it has doors that shut so there isn’t too much noise or too many smells coming out of there it may be better. But on the other hand the camelot room is only a short walk away and I personally like the library the way it is because it’s quiet and I can focus on my work and studies. I think that maybe the cafe isn’t such a good idea because this isn’t a huge campus, it’s very quaint and I could understand the arguement for the cafe if the camelot room was a longer walk, but it’s really not.
So after that I would have to say I’m leaning more towards the no side of this argument, but I personally have not done to much research on all of this.
I can understand the need for a cafe in the Hellman. I find myself needing a break from studying once in a while so I can grab something to eat. Yes, a cafe can give students this break from all the stressful work they have, but despite this fact, I think a cafe will pose more problems than it’s worth.
The main reason I’d be concerned with is the fact that a cafe will take away from the essence that is a library. Libraries weren’t established to eat, but to read, write, and take time to relax. As previously stated, the Camelot room and Starbucks is about a 2 minute walk from the library. I can understand needed something to eat or when you’re writing an in depth paper and you have a really good idea that you don’t want to leave. Either finish up what you’re trying to say or make a note of the idea, so you can come back and write it down later.
One more thing that concerns me is that the noise level will, inevitably, increase with the addition of a cafe. As a person who needs almost absolute silence in order to get work done, I come to the Hellman to do that. I was actually there the other night trying to write a 40-page paper on the 3rd floor, where students work “silently”. I became very irritated when a group of students were laughing and speaking very loudly, distracting me from my work. Luckily, they left soon after.
Anyway, this is the problem that I think a cafe would cause. I’m sure there are many other students like myself who come to the library to get work done, not to socialize. There are plenty of other places around campus where students can do that. Let’s put the money for renovations to a better use that will benefit the entire St. Rose community.
I am for the cafe in the library. I know that I spend hours in the library and have to leave when I need a drink or a snack. I feel like if there was a small cafe on the first floor near the “designated group area” where it does not have to be silent all the time it wouldn’t be a problem.
I think it would be beneficial to have it.
This idea is too late in coming. Christopher Newport Library at Christopher Newport University in Hampton, VA was in serious need of renovation. Students were simply not using the library the way it should be utilized. CNL got a facelift and the renovation included adding a Starbucks coffee shop and within the coffee shop were computer kiosks and comfortable user friendly wireless laptops stations which resembled comfortable lounge chairs. Well guess what not only did you enter the library to take a huge whiff of fresh brewed coffee but the coffee shop was almost always FULL of students sipping brew and studying, researching etc. The library use went way way up as did the social networking aspect of going to the library.
Well the college in its wisdome already put a Starbucks directly across from the Cafe/coffee shop it already had in the Student Union building. So now 2 coffee shops compete directly across from each other oh my Starbucks or Green Mountain what a decision and we waltz into the library and smell nothing but stale musty books. . .mmm
Starbucks would have made a nice addition to the library renovation and most likely had more business than it does in its current location.
Is this a Starbuck commercial???
Neal Hellman Library is being in great use as it is, convenient coffe shop next door is good enough.
Thank you very much.