Let Them Eat Books

Most libraries I have managed did not allow readers to have food or drinks in the library.  A notable exception was the last one I managed.  We actually had a cybercafe attached to the library with tables situated right next to the stacks.

I prefer to allow food and drinks in the library so long as I have no empirical evidence to suggest it is a major problem.  My take is that most people are brought up right and police their own trash and will not spill, and if they do, they will clean up after themselves.  

Once we moved to the new building, in my last library, vermin were not a problem , so I couldn’t see making that the excuse for banning food. I can see if the environment in which the library exists (say the sultry south, or Manhattan)  is particularly prone to bug infestation, you might have more cause for alarm. I would want to know, too, if roaches ate books.

I feel if you want people to integrate reading into their lives you need to allow for such human activities as eating and drinking.  You put in restrooms, why not allow food?  One need is as great at the other.  Making things comfortable for the reader would inevitably lead to greater participation.  How much more likely are you to attend a function where there is food offered?  I think the same goes for a library.

I do think there are appropriate and inappropriate foods to have in a library.  Cheese curls are one of the inappropriate ones.  That greasy orange powder is completely incompatible with a pristine book page.  One might also prefer M&M’s to a Hershey bar for tidiness.

Other than that, I think the no food rule emanates from the unwelcome autocratic thinking that most eschew nowadays.

If there’s a really good reason for disallowing food in the library, I’m open to hearing it.