The University Library will open a Starbucks facility near the circulation desk on the first floor on Jan. 29, 2007, the first day of the spring semester.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, Dean of Library Services Roman Kochan stated that the school wants to “turn the library into a place where students want to hang out, and make the library a centerpiece of the campus the way it used to be many years ago.”
Henry J. DuBois, the librarian for administrative services, said plans for a coffeehouse in the library have been in the works for some time.
“The library building renovation was conceived over four years ago,” DuBois said. “The concept of an Internet café was part of the planning from the beginning.”
According to Don Penrod, general manager and CEO of the 49er Shops, Kochan originally forwarded him the idea. With the help of Clint Campbell, the contract administrator and facilities manager of the 49er Shops, Penrod helped execute the plan.
“[Kochan] wanted a nice place for the library,” Penrod said. “The library was too conservative…it’s trying to get beyond the idea that school looks beyond a government institution.”
The Starbucks will be 2,416 square feet and have 20 tables designed to seat 40 people, Campbell said.
“There is a healthy trend in academic libraries to do things to help make the library a more welcoming and comfortable place in which students will find it less burdensome to spend long hours in study and research, and where they can come together to discuss group projects,” DuBois said.
Not all students, however, believe the plan is a good idea.
“I tend to disagree with the idea [of] replacing the copy center, which was much [more handy], when the Beach Hut is just around the corner,” said senior liberal studies and Chicano and Latino studies major Natalia Baclini. “People come to study. They can study with or without Starbucks.”
DuBois said campuses that have opted for a “known and trusted brand” have generally been successful. He said students in general tend to prefer Starbucks over other lesser-known brands.
Both Hussan and Monica Gonzales, a junior kinesiology major, said they think the new venue will make the library noisier and distract students.
Junior nursing major Soledad Mathus said the Starbucks will increase traffic and crowd the University Library.
“I know it will have more people, and it’s already packed as it is,” Mathus said.
Freshman Gagan Gill said he looks forward to the social environment the coffeehouse will create.
“I don’t come to the library that much, but, if you really want to study, it’s good to have a cup of coffee,” Gill said. “It will be a nice place to relax and chat, a social environment.”
