SEATTLE – Students searching for a caffeine jolt while studying at the library have a new source: Starbucks. An increasing number of academic libraries are inviting Starbucks and other coffeehouses to set up shop where the books are, USA Today reports.
While off to a slower start than their non-academic counterparts, school libraries have embraced the idea of coffee and books. With more students heading off campus to consume coffee drinks and study, having a coffeehouse on campus keeps students and their cash within the school environment.
Five years ago, no college library had a Starbucks, but now schools such as California State University-Long Beach and University of South Florida-Tampa have the ubiquitous coffee shop sharing space with the books.
Starbucks has 102 campus units, mostly in student centers, spokesman Brandon Borrman told the newspaper, adding that the company doesn’t specifically target colleges.
At the Cal State Long Beach Starbucks, “every seat is usually taken,"” Roman Kochan, the library dean, told the newspaper. And because students no longer hid food and beverages in their backpacks, spills and book damages have declined at the library.
Other universities, in an effort to avoid commercialization, have tapped local coffeehouse chains to run the coffee shops within their libraries.