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.

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 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.

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.

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.