The Chronicle: Colloquy: Responses

Coffee shops in libraries!?!?! Sugarcoated medicine is still medicine. People are going to coffee shops because coffee shops are trendy and people have found that their environment is conducive to reading, learning, studying, etc. So would people return to the library if coffee shops were implemented? No, they would not. I do applaud the idea, however, but what next -- video games, massage parlors? I mean really! Libraries are losing business mainly to the Internet and online library access, not coffee. If libraries are so concerned about learning about coffee shop strategies, perhaps they will realize that many coffee shops are adding computers with Internet access to attract more clients -- something libraries already had. Perhaps the money spent on adding a coffee shop should be spent on making more materials readily available online. It seems to me libraries are more concerned about money than they are the students. Online materials offer an easier, faster way to access information. Perhaps it would cost more to digitize the library than to add Mr. Coffee to the staff. We need to remember, we're in this for the students, yes, even if it does mean losing a few dollars here and there. The question is not, "Should coffee shops be added to libraries?" The question is, "When will students, not facility use or the almighty dollar, be job one?"

: -- Rowland Cadena, doctoral student, University of Texas at Austin (posted 11/14, 3:05 p.m., U.S. Eastern time)

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