There aren’t many people in the library during COVID, so its coffee shop is now on pause
There aren’t many people in the Advanced Learning Library these days — at least not enough to keep a coffee shop afloat.
So Andrew Gough, who in early September reopened his Reverie Coffee Roasters shop inside the library at 711 W. Second , has now decided to suspend its operation until further notice.
“Because the community is not coming the way they used to, we felt like the best thing to do is just pause our service until we get more clarity,” said Gough, who in mid-September reopened his flagship Reverie store at 2202 E. Douglas for dine-in business.
When the new library opened in June 2018, one of its many amenities was a little coffee shop inside the entrance. Reverie was chosen to run it, and until the pandemic hit, it was always busy with business from library employees, parents bringing their children to hang out in the library, and people who came to browse the books, Gough said.
The library, like most public gathering places, closed down at the start of the pandemic and didn’t reopen until late May. When it did, several restrictions were put in place. Book browsing was discontinued, and patrons were encouraged to pick up books via a drive-up window. The children’s section was closed, and all programming was suspended.
Gough said he hopes to reopen the shop eventually. He was honored to be chosen to be a part of the new library and wants to return.
“Our deciding factor will be when the library browsing returns,” he said. “That should help drive more interest from the community.”
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 11:27 AM.
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