Charles Nailen/The Hoya Georgetown University Librarian Artemis Kirk officiated over the opening ceremony of The Midnight ug Thursday afternoon.
Opening ceremonies of The Midnight Mug, a new coffee shop and lounge on the second floor of Lauinger Library and the Corp’s latest venture, took place on Thursday afternoon. The coffee shop will officially open its doors on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
The new space will feature a menu similar to that of Uncommon Grounds, the Corp’s main coffee shop in the Leavey Center. Coffee and specialty drinks, as well as cookies, muffins and bagels will be sold, Director of The Midnight Mug Lauren Moynihan (COL ’03) said. The shop’s management is also considering selling basic office supplies in the space.
“We thought it might be good to sell things people might forget at home and realize they need, like pens, highlighters and paper,” Moynihan said.
Also planned for the new lounge space will be events including musical performances, poetry readings and workshops by the Georgetown Poetry Club.
“We’re hoping to get some post-lecture discussions,” The Midnight Mug’s Director of Programming Courtney Delano-Williams (COL ’04) said. “We’re working with the Lecture Fund to also get film viewings. Hopefully, once organizations start seeing stuff here they’ll come to us for events.”
A compromise was reached with library administrators allowing the coffee shop to play music at a moderate level.
University Library Artemis Kirk officiated over the ceremony and expressed extreme thanks to all the students, library staff, administrators and individuals involved in the project.
“It is good to have a cafe in the library, it is better to have a cafe in the library that is run by the students of Georgetown, Inc., The Corp and it is best to have a cafe in the library that is run by the students of Georgetown, Inc. working with the GUSA organization and members of library administration and faculty to make this truly a community
space,” Kirk said.
Assistant University Librarian for Public Services Mark Jacobs helped to oversee the project’s completion and now sees it as “a place where students and faculty can come together and get to know each other, share ideas, have coffee.”
Jacobs made special mention of all the students, including Student Association President Kaydee Bridges (SFS ’03), members of the FRIENDS initiative and CORP alumni, who dedicated themselves to creating a community space for future students to enjoy.
The library coffee shop, the concept of which was formulated a few years ago, was originally to be housed in the Pierce Reading Room. Student support was lacking, however, and the idea ultimately never came to fruition, CORP President Justin Pytka (COL ’03) said.
Midnight Mug deliberations began a little over a year ago and an official contract between the library and the CORP was signed in the mid-summer, Moynihan said.
“It seems like a long time coming so it’s been really nice to see the store come together the way it has,” she said.
Although some students have expressed a desire to see The idnight Mug open 24 hours a day, practicality constraints make the proposal difficult.
“Since students work here, they’re not really willing to work those hours, otherwise we’d consider it,” Moynihan said.
The Midnight Mug will be open from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday and from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
