Posts The electricity just went off at my house, and won’t be on for about two hours. I had been procrastinating for days on some writing with a tight deadline and I had *finally* written one sentence when I lost power.
I am now working at my favourite coffee shop, and it occurred to me that my local public library is closer to where I parked my car. So why am I here, not in there?
95/365 I want my library study space to feel like this …. Uploaded on April 7, 2009 by sirexkat
Here’s my list of why I’m choosing a coffee shop for study. I’m not saying that my local library does not offer any of this . I would love our new library building to be destination of choice for people like me in the community we serve…so why am I here?
- The space has personality. It does not feel like a cookie-cutter, glitzy plastic franchise.
- The furnishing makes me feel like I can relax, maybe spill my coffee and it will all be OK – red leather couches, mismatched wooden tables and chairs.
- The people behind the counter act like hosts – talking to me, taking an interest in what I am doing, telling me about what they are doing (The barista explained to me in depth how he hand-mixed and brewed my chai in a teapot filled with milk – which is *exactly* how I like it)
- There is a mix of people here – mums with small kids, a guy sitting at a table outside with his dog on a leash, someone sitting on a couch knitting, someone on a table nearby talking on a phone and working on a laptop.
- I feel like I am part of a community and have privacy too. Knitting Lady just agreed to watch my laptop while I put more money in my parking meter, even though we are complete strangers
- I can eat and drink while I work. Good, healthy food prepared with care.
- I feel like I can stay as long as I like.
- There is sunlight in the outside courtyard and the temperature is pleasant inside.
- I don’t feel like I have to dress up to be here.
- I know that other things happen here – music nights, poetry readings, ever-changing local artwork on the walls – so I feel like I am part of an exciting venue where things are going on.
- There is easy access to electricity and I feel comfortable grabbing their powerboard and plugging in.
- I don’t mind the lack or wireless access, as I bring my own – but I appreciate that they used to provide wifi until the backpacking hostel next door kept hogging it. They understand that it is important.
- The music playing is funky, mellow jazz and it blocks out the sound of other people’s conversations and my heavy-handed keyboarding….so I don’t feel disturbed or like I am disturbing anyone.
- Distractions of home are not there, so I am more likely to work – if I ever stop writing this and procrastinating more…
The image I used above is from Para Coffee in Charlottesville, Virginia – another space that “had it” – whatever the elusive “it” is that makes me feel welcome and like I can work well. I want our new library space to have “it” too.
They are all lovely reasons, Kathryn – however I’m all over coffee shops, having spent quite a bit of time in them at the end of the day here and there, and the music is starting to get to me. I have just discovered the quietest study room in my area, apart from my back room at home, at a library, which of course has no coffee shops nearby. (Which is why it’s quiet, innit.)
So I have coffee first, then nick up to my quiet spot for a couple of hours if I need to get out of the carer’s hair. (If I don’t I take some coffee up to the back of the house and don’t stir till it’s her knock-off time. I used to feel funny doing it, but it’s vewy vewy quiet….)
There’s also a great study room not far away at another library, very close to a coffee shop – the best of both worlds, except that from Tues-Friday I can also be tempted to check out the photography gallery:-) multiple distraction.
our power was off for half an hour yesterday though and I don’t know where I would have gone if I’d needed to log in urgently – a Macca’s perhaps?
PS great news about your new job too, and I hope they realise how damn lucky they are to have you!!
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the excuse of “We’re a library, not a coffee shop / internet cafe”, etc… well, I wouldn’t be rich, but I’d definitely have a bit of pocket money.
The mystery of coffee shops: people both enjoy themselves and behave themselves.
There’s something about a public library atmosphere that makes adults nervous and children act up–maybe it’s the compulsion to stay quiet, or the difference between feeling like you’re in a traditional business establishment or in a tax-supported community area. Libraries have a very anti-social stigma (have you ever seen a friendly librarian on television?)–plus, you can’t play mellow jazz in the stacks.
It may be possible to catch that elusive “it” at a very small library.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by James R. FitzGerald. James R. FitzGerald said: "Why am I in a coffee shop and not a library? | Librarians Matter" (http://twitthis.com/vu9xm8) [...]
Public libraries in America are changing rapidly, even here in a conservative, rural town in Southern Kentucky. We are often shushed by our patrons and are becoming known as a good place for Wi-Fi access. Digital initiatives are underway or in planning to make us more relevant in a new age, and those are viewed as critical to our mission.
Atmosphere is everything, and yes, libraries are outer space compared to a coffee shop. However, along with digital transitions comes new ways of thinking — fewer “old-skool” librarians and more young, “hip” librarians are showing up these days. The youngsters are making inroads to the youth population that has been long overlooked, resulting in an increase in lifelong patrons. These youngsters are also getting to design and implement surroundings that complement programming and today’s lifestyles, resulting in modern, up-to-date rooms that feel more like home…or a coffee shop!
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Industrial stain-concealing carpeting. Fluorescent lighting. These are the two biggest library atmosphere-killers, imho, and ones you don’t see at a coffeehouse. The library I work in has gorgeous, comfy furniture, and a nice large skylight–we’re very lucky. But even so, with the fluorescent lighting and the carpeting, it will always feel more like an office than a coffee shop–probably even if we offered coffee. And who wants to feel like they’re in the office when they’re not?
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On the point Emily makes about lighting, I wonder if cafes are subject to the same strict standards libraries are for lighting, accessibility, and so on. This of course, limits what libraries can do to an extent. I’ve been to more than one crowded cafe that I could hardly navigate or read in because it was so dark.
I s’pose the other difference between cafes and libraries is that people pay directly to be in a cafe whereas anyone can hang out in a library. To some extent, that “tax” contributes to the sort of clientele a cafe attracts, or doesn’t attract. We pay for library services through our taxes certainly, but it’s not the same as forking over moolah on the day. Whereas going to the local library can sometimes be a challenging experience and a very different sort of clientele.
With that said, I’m having a hard time remembering the last time I was in a library (other than as a tourist) whereas I’m in a cafe every other day: to have coffee, to read the paper, and watch the world go by…occasionally I’ll run the laptop and hop on the free wifi. Cafes are my home outside my home. I can’t think of a library where the same is true.
I say all that as a “books, books and more books” sort of person
So sorry I didn’t answer the comments on this post. I wrote replies a week or so ago, but must have closed the window without saving.
I think it is definitely the built atmosphere that is attractive, but a huge attraction is also the staff and the fact that they care about the job they are doing, and go out of their way to make me feel comfortable and welcome. Libraries can replicate that.
I guess libraries have lots of purposes, whereas it is much easier to define what you do when you run a coffee shop. The majority of coffee shops, though, don’t live up to the standards of my fave and I would probably take my coffee to a quiet back in my house instead.
[...] With everyone talking about future book technologies, the future of libraries is swiftly coming into doubt, but few people ever stop to wonder why libraries are so unpopular now. Kathryn Greenhill reflects on a few reasons in Why am I in a coffee shop and not a library? [...]
stay away from coffeshops. I go there to actually talk to people.
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