What impact does an open coffee bar have on library use in an academic library?

1. What impact does an open  coffee bar have on library use in an academic library? Ronda Holt School of Library and Information Management Emporia State University

2. Library as Place What will be the mission and values of the library in the future? It is clear from history that the mission of libraries is shaped by the societies in which they exist. The values and attitudes that evolve within a given society are the self-same forces and attitudes that mold and shape its institutions. Thus it is to our advantage to examine some of the influential values and attitudes in today’s environment that are likely to shape our future (Rubin, 2004)

3. Introduction • Identify issues of the implementation of a coffee bar in the academic library • Role of the library staff, has it changed? • User study • Similar studies • Qualitative and quantitative results

4. Literature Review Places of Connections : New Public and Academic Library Buildings in Australia and New Zealand ‘It is not the space allocated to books which is critical; it is the space allocated to people’ (Bundy, 2004)

5. The trends in public and academic library location and design in Australia and New Zealand, include • creating a library experience and an environment which is available 7 days a week, and is welcoming, user friendly, well signed, attractive, well lit and efficient • libraries which are welcoming beacons at night time, and during the few dark days of the Antipodean winter • providing special zones and study spaces for different age and user cohorts • generous provision of meeting rooms and group study rooms • providing for the full range of user ability • boutique, shop front, and technology focused public libraries • uniform use of well spaced lower shelving for openness, light and line of sight throughout the building • a greater proportion of stock displayed face out • good display facilities

6. • maximum flexibility in layout, design and lighting to allow for inevitable reorganization and expansion • collocation or convergence with other services and facilities • information/learning commons • scholars and researchers centers • IT training suites • fully wired buildings to permit IT use anywhere • complementary wireless spaces wherever possible • single enquiry/transaction points • self check for loans • good car parking provision • drive by provision • after hours return provision • coffee shops or facilities in or close to the library • open plan spaces for staff • energy efficient technology and water recycling (Bundy, 2004)

7. Literature Review Evolving Space: an Examination of Coffee Shops in Academic Libraries Public image is important. Libraries need to prove to the students that they can provide valuable services and sources. If changing their image can help achieve that goal, then libraries should consider making changes (Singh,2002)

8. Literature Review Café Gelman: An Innovative Use of Library Space 1991 – 24 hour study room at Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University 1992 – Café Gelman Café Gelman offers students a totally different image of their library as an inviting and welcoming place. We believe Café Gelman attracts students we don’t see for other reasons (1994)

9. Literature Review Lattes 'n Libraries Why do libraries want to bother with having coffee bars? For one thing, it is a great service. People enjoy it. It gives them another reason to spend time in the library. But, mostly, because it is "cool". And for many who have not stepped foot into a library since they were kids, "library" is not synonymous with "cool." That is changing with the Internet and innovative programs. Coffee bars inside libraries are helping to create a different sense of place (1998).

10. Research Design Details This research will reflect the perspectives of academic library patrons and library staff in how the implementation of a coffee bar in an academic library has impacted the usage. The user study will include students/patrons and library staff from the academic libraries in the Kansas area that have a coffee bar located in the library.

11. Sampling Details The subjects for the user study will be chosen from two universities and two community colleges in the Kansas area that house coffee bars. The subjects will include twenty patrons from each of the university/colleges, that uses the coffee bar in the academic library and the library staff from each academic library.

12. Data Collection Details The researcher will observe the students that use the coffee bar and then pass out survey questions that reflect their usage. The researcher will also interview the library staff to see how the coffee bar has impacted the role of the library staff and the usage of the library.

13. Methodology • From each of the university/colleges twenty patrons will be observed and given surveys to fill out. The library staff from each of the academic library will be interviewed. The research will be conducted in Kansas academic libraries that now house coffee bars. • The researcher will visit each academic library to observe the patrons that use the coffee bar in the library during the fall semester. Surveys will be given and gathered. The library staff will be interviewed.

14. Methodology • Observation: The researcher will observe the patrons in the library to find out who uses the coffee bar. Once the observation is complete the researcher will pass out the survey questions and gather them up. • Survey: Survey questions will be formulated to find out if the patron usage of the library has been changed by the addition of the coffee bar in the library. • Interview: Interview questions will address how the library staff role has been impacted by the coffee bar in the academic library setting.

15. Timeline July 2007 - June 2008 Fall Semester- Observation, Surveys and Interviews Spring Semester – Data Collection and Analysis

16. Data Analysis Details The survey questions will be gathered and analyzed in how the student usage has changed. This will be qualitative in nature. The interview questions will be asked of the library staff and the results will show both qualitative and quantitative results.

17. Final Product • Presentation • Published paper

18. Resources Alloway, C. (1997). Publib@sunsite.berkeley.EDU,21/11/97. APLIS, 10(4), 234. Retrieved, Sunday, October 01, 2006 from the Academic Search Elite database. Bundy, A. (2004). Places of Connection: New Public and Academic Library Buildings in Australia and New Zealand (PDF 714kb) Paper for Library Buildings Conference Bournemouth UK 5-6 February 2004, Retrieved September 17, 2006 from http://www.library.unisa.edu.au/about/papers/places-of-connection.pdf. Leo MacLeod (1998). Lattes 'n libraries. The Bottom Line, 11(3), 97-100. Retrieved , from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 84987643). Masters, Deborah, et. al. "Café Gelman: An Innovative Use of Library Space." The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 19.6 (1994): 388-390.

19. Resources Reese, Noreen. (1999) Café Services in Public Libraries. Public Libraries. Retrieved September 17, 2006 from H.W. Wilson: http://0-vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.www.whitelib.emporia.edu/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml?_requestid=32546. Rubin, R. (2004). Foundation of Library and Information Science. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. Singh, G. (2002l). Evolving space: an examination of coffee shops in academic libraries (Master’s paper, University of North Carolina, 2002) Retrieved, September 17, 2006 from Google Scholar (http://neoref.ils.unc.edu/2813.pdf).

20. Resources Trelease, J. (1996) Eating and reading in the library.  In Emergency Librarian, 23, p27. Retrieved September 17, 2006, from via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=AONE&docId=A30360318&source=gale&userGroupName=empsu_web&version=1.0