Expresso and Ambiance: Library Cafes (1997)

Library managers seeking national attention for their libraries might consider opening a library cafe. Innumerable library related publications, as well as USA Today, The Chicago tribune, and The San Francisco chronicle have given ample coverage to the convergence of food and libraries in recent months. Who would have imagined such a simple innovation would have proven to be so newsworthy? Is it the actual idea of food in libraries or, rather, the iconoclastic notion of old barriers and traditions being rebuffed that has grabbed the media's attention? For decades food has been categorically denied in the library environment. Eating in libraries was considered verboten--as out of place as eating in church or in the classroom. But now, in the more relaxed, unencumbered age in which we live traditional library customs and practices once held sacrosanct are being reevaluated in relation to the bottom line. And the bottom line, at least as far as public libraries are concerned, is getting more people to use the library. The monopolistic fallacy Research conducted on the subject of food as a library enticement is virtually nonexistent, although an article written in the eighties did confirm food's rightful place in libraries when used in conjunction with children's events and special activities. Library managers contemplating challenging the library's historical barring of food must instead look to the management objectives used in the business world for philosophical affirmation. Profit theorists such as Peter Drucker and Tom Peters have urged staid corporations to adapt strategies based on change, flexibility, and innovation for years. Otherwise, businesses more adept at responding to the needs of society will simply step in and seize market share. In the library world a monopolistic fallacy seems to exist, especially in small to medium sized communities, based on the fact that there are no competing libraries. With no one vying for our customers, why not continue business as usual? The reality, of course, is that conventional public library use is being threatened by home online information delivery. As a way of meeting this challenge--and maintaining patron market share--it seems prudent for library managers to consider the implementation of amenities such as coffee shops and cafes in their libraries. An issue for smaller libraries Originally, only large public libraries offered food concessions for their patrons. Cafes or mini restaurants were usually located in a designated area within the larger library complexes. This convenience was probably appreciated by patrons, but was hardly necessary since large public libraries are usually in urban areas with numerous places nearby to eat. It is the smaller, or rural, library that logically should provide food to visitors due to the probable unavailability of eating establishments in close proximity. Otherwise, patrons' library visits will be limited to between meal timeframes--they may, or may not, return to the library after leaving for food. This may be acceptable to those libraries seeking to limit the average stay of their users, but is hardly conducive to the serious student, reader, or researcher that has designated a full day at the library to work. Americans, it seems, are conditioned to eating wherever and whenever they please in today's society. The traditional mindset forbidding food on library premises is simply unrealistic, and perhaps even draconian, in a world that caters to convenience, comfort, and consumerism. Philosphy or fear The philosophical aversion of some library managers towards library cafes is perhaps easier to comprehend than arguments aimed at why food per se should not be allowed in the library. Can bugs be the reason for the ban in our age of toxic efficiency? Do not libraries that ban food for patrons have staff lounges or eating areas in other parts of the same building? Similarly, what library that bans food does not have the occasional special event in which some type of insect luring delicacy is dispensed to the staff or public? …