Last-minute cram sessions at Hayden Library could be made less stressful with the proposed addition of a café.
ASU administrators and University library officials are discussing the installation of a coffee house in Hayden Library, said Sherrie Schmidt, dean of university libraries.
The proposed café would be installed where the "quiet study" area, adjacent to the Hayden Library entrance, is now, Schmidt said. She said the area is being considered because it is accessible from both inside and outside the library.
Schmidt said the study area has been used solely for storing excess books for the past two years. The books will be moved to a storage building on the ASU East campus in June.
"We would re-conceptualize the idea of 'quiet study,'" Schmidt said. "To continue to use the quiet study name would be a misnomer."
Schmidt said the administration and the library had been discussing the possibility of a café for more than a year.
"I spoke with the interim vice president for Student Services [James Rund], and I also think [ASU President Michael Crow] had interest in making the library a more interesting and vibrant place," Schmidt said.
Last spring, the library administrators worked with an engineering class to come up with possible designs for a café. The class presented the designs to Jane Conrow, associate dean of library services, according to industrial engineering professor William Moor.
Moor said the designs probably won't serve as a final guideline for any eventual café design.
Although both the administration and the library have agreed a café would be beneficial, they have yet to determine many details about how one would be run.
Though the library soon may be open 24-hours, the café likely will have more limited hours, Schmidt said. Though, she added the future vendors would make the decisions about the café's operation.
"Any vendor who would go into the library would need to determine what hours the sales would be," Schmidt said.
No cost estimates have been made yet for the site. Schmidt said no decision can be made about the café plans until the state finalizes the University's budget and there is a clear picture of how much money ASU will receive.
"I hope that we'll be able to do it in the next couple of years. If we can't, then knowing what it will take is the first step," Schmidt said.
Some students said they would go to a café in the library but still thought it may be intrusive and unnecessary.
"A café would probably cause a lot of noise that people came here to avoid. Plus you've got the [Memorial Union] right over there," said broadcasting junior Greg Jones. "I don't really see the need for it."
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Reach the reporter at garrett.neese@asu.edu.
