Check out a latte at new library

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Check out a latte at new library
Fare Start to run coffee cart in third floor 'living room'

By REBEKAH DENN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Librarians tend not to shush anymore (the famous Nancy Pearl action figure aside). They seldom wear their hair in buns (especially the men). And, in the falling of the final cliché, they're tearing down the "No food and drink" signs and bringing in espresso carts.

Its modern image built on caffeine, Seattle will open a coffee cart in the new Central Library.

The cart -- selling coffee, pastries, sandwiches and snacks -- will be located in the third-floor area called the "living room."

Covered beverages will be allowed throughout the building, but food will be restricted to the seating near the cart. It will be operated by the non-profit Fare Start organization, which offers a youth barista program among other job services for the homeless.

Libraries throughout the country have begun providing cafes during the past few years, as they saw the successes of chain bookstores in luring customers through the coffee/book combination. The move is meant to encourage people to come to the library, make them happier when they're there for long periods of time -- and to acknowledge that sipping java while working or reading has become common practice.

"Let's loosen up a little bit, because we have people sneaking in food anyway, especially teens," said Carla Hayden, president of the American Library Association.

Before making that decision, Seattle consulted the Multnomah County, Ore., library system, which pioneered library cafes in 1997.

The Portland-based library found historical fears about allowing food and drink -- that it would damage books or generate trash -- didn't hold true, said John Cabrera, operations administrator at the Multnomah Central Library. "We had occasional spills here and there, but it was certainly not what we had feared."

It also seemed logical, he said.

"Our thoughts were, when the books leave the building, they're going home to coffee tables around the city. They're being read on buses. They'd be just as prone to getting damaged there as they would in the building, if not more so."

In Seattle, Fare Start won the contract for the Central Library cart over four other applicants, said library Operations Director Laurie Brown. She said Seattle staff made anonymous visits to Fare Start's other coffee carts and were impressed.

Fare Start aims to keep its prices slightly below market rate, and a double-tall latte at the cart will cost $2, said David Carleton, head of business development for the non-profit.

The cart is meant to generate profits for Fare Start as well as the library. The agency will pay the library $500 a month rent, or 10 percent of its revenues, whichever is greater.

Starbucks, which ran the library cafe in Portland, shut it down last year because it wasn't profitable, Cabrera said.

Seattle shouldn't have that problem.

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