This week marked the grand opening of the Open Book Café in Room 1250 of Helen C. White Hall’s College Library.
According to Linda Balsiger, assistant director and building manager of College Library, plans to remodel started over a year ago. Actual construction began in December of 2002 with the official completion and opening of the café February 17, 2003.
The installation, coordinated by the Wisconsin Union food services, is one improvement the library sought to make.
“The café’s food is much better compared to candy in the vending machines,” sophomore Eric Levine said. “I don’t think that the remodeling was completely necessary, but it might make the place more popular.”
Levine would also like to see a similar study bar on the third floor of the library.
“It saves a lot of time when you don’t have to leave the library and disrupt your studying to get something to eat,” UW freshman Ashley Berg said.
New Agati furniture has replaced old chairs and tables and raised booths have been installed in the café area and the carpeting has been replaced.
Installed on a variety of study tables and seating near the café, computer kiosks have been made available to students.
“The café has really taken off,” Scholl said. “With the renovation, it has made this space available for student group interaction instead of just a study area.”
“During the entire construction, we tried to keep a lot of the space open and made our best attempts to work around the students,” Balsiger said. “I think any inconveniences it may have caused have been made up for by the successful completion of the project and positive responses from students.”
Senior Jennifer Bradley has worked with Union food services for 18 months and is currently working at the Open Book Café.
“The students have responded pretty well, with the news about the opening getting out slowly, but surely,” Bradley said.
Senior Aaron Cohen and freshman Ben Cohen both agree that though there seems to be less space to sit, one can never have too much coffee.
“I used to come to the library to meet girls. Now, I come to the library to meet girls who drink coffee,” Cohen said. .
The costs for the renovation were donated by the UW’s Foundation’s Parents Program, which provides support for student projects that are not funded by the University’s basic operating budget.
The Open Book Café is open Sunday through Thursday from noon to 2 a.m., and is open Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 11:45 p.m.
