The Survey of Library Cafes and Other Food Service, 2016-17 Edition (ISBN No:978-157440-389-3 )

The report presents data from 30 public and 4 academic library cafes or other food service operations.  It helps its readers to answer questions such as: what kind of capital spending are libraries contemplating for their food service operations?  What are their sales? Their best selling products?  How many offer outdoor searing? What is their role in catering library special events?  How much do they pay their staffers?  What are their plans for the near future?  How do libraries finance their cafes and how do they finance expansion plans?

Just a few of the report’s many findings are that:

Mean sales for the library cafes sampled were approximately $55,000.

• 37.5 percent of libraries with budgets above $3,300,000 plan on expanding their food service or café operations over the next three years.
• The cafes sampled sold a mean of approximately 35 cold drink items per week.
• None of the library cafes sampled sold fruit or yogurt.
• The mean price for a medium coffee sold in the academic library cafés was $2.83 and the median is $2.50, in a range of $250-$3.50.  In public library cafes the mean price was $1.55 and the median $1, in a range of $0-$4.50.