It has been a few years now since the coffee shop at my library died. The pandemic knocked it down and the County was glad to then issue the coup de grace. They liked the space. It's now a "Service Center" instead of a coffee shop. A "Service Center" is a place that reluctantly connects people to dismal, insufficient county services. But don't mind me, as a county employee I'm probably puffing it up way more than it deserves to be.
But,
BUT...
Twenty years ago the library coffee shop was cutting edge. It was the center of our identity. Our very library cards had a little coffee shop figures on them!
And so, people still regularly come in and, looking around confused, finally ask "Maybe this is a dumb question, but didn't there used to be a coffee place in here somewhere?"
"It's not a dumb question at all!" I reply feverishly. "For a long time, there was a coffee shop right over there." I say pointing. Then I explain all the elaborate, opinionated history pretty much like I just did to you.
They are disappointed.
But not nearly as much as me.
What's better than a library? A library with a coffee shop attached.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteWell, except maybe a blog post about a library with a coffee shop attached is slightly better, but a library with a coffee shop is a super close second place.