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That's the question that students and other visitors to the W.E.B. DuBois at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst will have to ask themselves. Seems that so many people are shunning the library in favor of doing research at home on their computers. So the library has thought of ways to get people in the door again, and some of these ideas prove that it's not your father's library. Besides having cellphone isolation booths (which I would think are as much for other patrons than the cellphone user), they're also putting in a hip cafe where the circulation used to be, and a lounge. You can get coffee, soft drinks, pastries. You can even get food delivered to the library if you want! Add to that new bistro tables and cool lime green arm chairs (and the fact that it's open 24 hours a day during the week) and you have some place you might actually hang out in.
This could be a new trend? I mean, how long before a Starbucks opens at your local library?
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11-27-2006 @12:51PM emiglia said... There IS a Starbucks at my library. And a Pizza Pizza. I go to the much smaller library associated with the Catholic college to avoid people eating lunch when I'm trying to study.
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11-27-2006 @12:39PM RobynT said... Michigan State has this too (http://www.lib.msu.edu/services/cybercafe/). It is fabulous! University of Michigan has something similar at one of their libraries (http://www.dc.umich.edu/facilityservices/mujo.htm), but it's really more like a building that has a cafe and a library. I don't think you are allowed to take the food into the book section, but there are study areas where you have access to both the food/drink and the books. And actually, at MSU, you are technically supposed to keep the food/drink in the cafe area, but it is a huge cafe and you can bring books in. Oh, and there are computers too. I believe Central Michigan has one too.
I wonder if it is a regional thing? Michigan seems to put a lot of money into ed as far as I can tell...
In any case, it's really great, but honestly I do still prefer Barnes or Borders, where there are magazines available.
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11-27-2006 @12:18PM Manya said... It's not as unusual as you might think. I'm a librarian and we had a Starbucks in our Central branch 8-9 years ago. They closed because they weren't making enough money.
We've also allowed people to eat and drink in our libraries for many years. It was becoming silly not to allow it.
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11-27-2006 @2:41PM Sarah said... I find this fascinating. The downtown branch of the library in Portland, Oregon DID have a Starbucks for a while (I believe it was taken out about 4 years ago, though I'm not sure why).
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11-27-2006 @2:09PM Angela said... Seattle's Central Library has a small pastries-and-coffee area managed by FareStart, a local nonprofit that trains homeless teens and young adults in full-service skills. I understand it to be quite successful.
As for food elsewhere in the library (yes, allowed), I once asked a librarian there whether the prospect of food and beverages near the books wasn't a little unnerving, especially since Seattle has for the most past opened its stacks. The librarian told me, "Well, we thought it over and realized we were letting people actually check out books and take them to their homes, and God knows *what* they might have near the books there, so..." Love that logic!
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11-27-2006 @1:25PM William said... I have a Starbucks at my local library...the neighborhood Borders/Barnes and Noble. I don't skip the public library because I can get a latte at Borders. I pass because the collection is so hopelessly out of date that I have to go to a book store to find non-fiction good enough for my needs.
I wish my library had the selection of my local bookstore!
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11-27-2006 @1:40PM Spencer said... My school, SUNY Brockport has a cafe in our library. Some photos can be seen here.
http://basc1.com/Dining_Services/aerie_cafe.htm
The food is all quite good. They've recently added some large, overstuffed chairs that make it a great place to read the newspaper.
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11-28-2006 @12:49AM Hali said... The University of Florida just reopened their main library this summer after a three year remodel. It now comes complete with a hip lounge and a Starbucks dominating the first floor. I would not mind it so much if it weren't for two inconveniences: 1) the library got any of the revenue from the venture, but the university food services gets all the profit as of now and the library doesn't see a dime of the money. 2) It gets old quick when you are cosntantly having to clean up after people's coffee spills when people sneak their drinks up into the library.
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11-27-2006 @3:37PM Maitreyi said... CU Boulder will be getting something like this in its main library within the next few years; they're breaking ground on the project in 2008. In addition to the cafe and comfy chairs, there will also be laptops available for checkout. Students never had it so good!
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11-27-2006 @3:38PM Manya said... This is a response to Sarah: that's the library I was refering to! I'm response #1....it just wasn't making money.
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11-27-2006 @3:26PM Gayle Brown said... I think it would be cool to have drinks and snacks at the library in a designated section with comfortable chairs. . .away from the types of materials too valuable to check out.
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11-27-2006 @5:09PM Anna said... Pittsburgh's public library in Oakland has Crazy Mocha (one of the local cafe chains) located near the circulation desk. Still don't think food and drinks are allowed outside the cafe area. Seems like there would be possible damage to not just the books but the property.
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11-27-2006 @5:10PM jess said... Perhaps UMASS might focus more on the bricks that I believe are still falling from the library than on providing snackies. Just a thought.
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11-27-2006 @8:15PM Haley said... Ball State just added a small cafe to their library, though I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.
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11-27-2006 @8:13PM calamari said... There's been a coffeehouse (though not a Starbucks, I don't think) in the Roseville branch library in Roseville, Minnesota, ever since they did an expansion over a decade ago.
The newish joint public library/San Jose State U library in downtown San Jose has a Tully's coffee attached.
The main library at Arizona State has an attached cafe, though I think it's not a name chain.
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1-21-2007 @2:52PM Vic said... I'm an old timer, 65 years old, but I go to my local Borders Book Store because I can read all the latest periodicals as well as books and enjoy a couple of good cups of coffee. I go at least 3 or 4 times a week and stay about 2 hours.
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