Tonantzin Casa de Café opened its second Colorado location inside the main branch of the Boulder Public Library on Arapahoe Avenue in January, bringing a coffee shop to the library after almost a year without one. But the anticipation was short-lived, as the Indigenous- and Latin American-inspired cafe closed its library location in August.
The launch of Tonantzin Casa de Café in Boulder coincided with the reopening of the library’s main branch after a closure due to methamphetamine contamination in the bathrooms.
“That was certainly a hurdle. It slowed traffic back to the library,” said Jennifer Phares, the Boulder Public Library’s deputy director, which was already slow due to the pandemic. Tonzantin replaced the Seeds Library Cafe, owned by the Boulder County Farmers Market, which closed because of Covid.
“We’re still not back to pre-pandemic levels of patron visits to the main library,” Phares said.
Tonantzin Casa de Café’s owner, Cynthia Diaz, told Boulder Reporting Lab that slow business led her to terminate the cafe’s lease at the library.
Following Tonantzin’s closure, David Farnan, the library’s director, decided to transfer cafe operations over to the library, since it doesn’t need the coffee shop to generate profit like a private vendor does, according to Phares.
“Until the cafe can build back a consistent customer base, David didn’t want another for-profit vendor to take on a business risk,” Phares said.
The new cafe will open in February or March 2024, and in January, the library will post a job application for a part-time barista. The barista and inventory for the cafe will be funded out of the budget of the newly formed Boulder Public Library District that voters approved in November 2022 through a ballot measure, Phares said.
The measure removed the library system from municipal control so it can be funded through property taxes and become its own independent government entity, expanding its services.
A current library staff member, such as a front desk worker, will handle the cafe’s administrative tasks, including purchasing supplies and managing the inventory. Revenue from the cafe is expected to cover some of these operational costs.
“We’re not necessarily looking for it to turn a profit,” Phares said. “We’re more interested in having that space activated and having lots of people use it.”
Though the cafe doesn’t yet have a name, the library plans to start modestly by selling espresso and tea drinks and, as customer demand grows, offer packaged snacks and food made by local vendors.
“We want to start slow and have something consistently offered to patrons, so they know what to expect when they come to the library,” Phares said. If the initial phase goes well, the library will consider expanding the menu in the following months.
Though all the cafe’s equipment is in place, the library still has to go through the Boulder County Health Department permitting process before it can open, Phares said, which many are eagerly anticipating.
“Staff and patrons alike really appreciate having the cafe in the library,” she said