We’re excited to share the news that Vi Engelhart, an experienced local barista, is planning to open the Open Book Cafe in September.

After spending six years in corporate America, Vi fell in love with serving people through coffee/drink service at Gimme Coffee, which gave them a quality foundation. They have since run a few other shops, so they have the experience to take this on.

Vi has already secured an arrangement with Copper Horse Coffee, and we are working together on designing the space within our Reading Room, leaving plenty of room for our ongoing events.

Vi is covering the costs of building out the actual cafe, and we have agreed to fund the behind the scenes electrical and plumbing needed to get things up and running. Unfortunately, quotes for that work have come in at close to $21,000. That’s almost double what we thought, so we’re looking for support from generous friends like you to help us make that happen. We’ve already secured a $5,000 match, so if you can make a similar gift it will be worth twice as much. Thank you!

Support your favorite reading room by helping us build out Open Book Cafe!