The Kent State University Library will welcome a full-service Starbucks on the first floor of the library as early as Fall 2012.

University Library dean James Bracken says nothing is officially decided as to where the Starbucks will go on the first floor, but there are four proposed locations.

The top place is toward the back right corner on the first floor. Currently, this area is the reference librarian’s office, which is not open to the public.

“We know the Starbucks will be relatively close to the back of the building,” said Michael Bruder, director of design and construction in the Office of the University Architect.

Bruder said the on-campus Starbucks will be normal size and run just like any other Starbucks. Whether or not Starbucks will run on separate hours from the library is still being discussed.

“It will have a full menu, including a breakfast menu,” Bruder said. “We also are looking to put in a sitting area so students can come in and sit down.”

Rich Roldan, director of Dinning Services, said everything in the on-campus Starbucks will be the same as the Starbucks on Main Street.

“It will be competitive with the Starbucks off-campus,” Roldan said. “It will also have elements of Kent State in it.”

Roldan said there might be pictures of the university and students in the new Starbucks just as these pictures are found all over campus. The on-campus Starbucks will be developed specifically for the University Library.

Whether student meal plans will be accepted at the Starbucks is still in discussion.

Sophomore nursing major Sam Morrow said she thinks it’s a great idea that Starbucks is coming on-campus.

“I love Starbucks,” Morrow said. “I wish it was going to be here earlier. I hope students with meal plans will be able to use them at Starbucks. That would be awesome.”

Roldan said construction would probably start in the summer when fewer students are on campus.

“It’s never an easy process to get something like this in a campus building,” said Diane Sperko, manager of Design Solutions at University Libraries.

Sperko said the library hopes Starbucks will help increase traffic in the building, making the library a welcoming place to go.

“This will be contrary to how a normal library operates,” Sperko said. “It will be more inviting to students and faculty.”

In the future, Bracken said he hopes students won’t have to leave the library and walk over to the Student Center to get something to eat and drink.

Contact Cassandra Beck at [email protected].