There used to be a microwave in the Bookmarks Café. Now there is a Taco Bell. This is not an improvement. Please replace the microwave instead of inducing students to eat hyper-commercialized trash.

Thanks very much for your suggestion. The microwave and Taco Bell are not mutually exclusive. It’s true that we used to have a microwave in the café area, and it seems to have been lost in the shuffle of renovations. We recognize that there’s a lot of demand for a microwave in the café area, and we are working with Dining Services to have it reinstalled.

For more recent information on the microwave situation, please see recent comments and responses.

For more on the food selection in the café, see this recent commentary.

We’ve received several comments about the Taco Bell in the café. Here are two of the latest:

Why was a Taco Bell implemented in the Bookmark Café? Facilities do not take care of the mess caused by the customers. It’s no longer good for studying.

Taco Bell was a bad idea. The smell of tacos and burritos is not something that belongs in a library. A coffee shop or something with some healthier food options would have been better for studying students. Bring back the coffee! Move the Taco Bell into the Student or Recreation Center.

Thank you for your comments. Taco Bell’s implementation in the café was a decision made by Drexel’s Dining Services office. Several months ago Dining Services conducted a survey of Drexel students asking them what new food vendors they wanted to see on campus, and Taco Bell, along with Chick-Fil-A and others, was one of the winners. If you are unhappy with the dining options in the library, please let Dining Services know, and please encourage your friends and peers to do the same.

Regarding coffee, please see other recent comments.

The entrance to the Taco Bell is an emergency exit only! While dining at Taco Bell at least three groups attempted to use those doors. It’s a giant inconvenience and I’m sure it causes Taco Bell to lose customers.

Thanks for commenting. The outer doors to the café area are open in the middle of the day to allow people from the street to come in and use the Taco Bell. However, at all other times those doors are closed in order to keep the library secure and safe for the Drexel community. Our primary purpose at the library is providing a safe and secure location to conduct research and academic activities.

Taco Bell is fantastic, but you need to sell coffee somewhere! We will perish during finals and midterms.

Coffee and studying go together like rice and beans, and believe us, we agree that coffee’s important. There’s a coffee machine in the vending machine area at the back of the café, and if it’s been awhile since you had that coffee, you might try it again; it’s been recalibrated in the last month improve the taste. Decisions about dining options get made in the office of Dining Services. If you would like to see a change or addition in the dining options in the café, please contact them, and encourage your friends to do the same.

Requests have been coming in to restore the microwave in the café. Here are the two latest:

There used to be a microwave in the Cafe area, but we could not find it anymore. I understand Taco Bell will want students to purchase their food. However they open and close at scheduled times. The cafe area is the only campus place open to students 24/7 where students are able to study. We would appreciate it a lot if we can have a microwave at the cafe, please.

Could you have a Microwave in the library? We need to be able to microwave hot food.

Thanks very much for this suggestion. This is a great idea, and library administration is currently talking with Drexel Dining Services about installing a microwave in the vending area at the back of the café.

Although there is a Taco Bell in the café, students who use the café area are welcome to bring in their own food and are in no way obligated to purchase Taco Bell food. If you are told that you may not bring outside food into the café, please see a member of the library staff.

I want to eat lunch and study.

Thanks for the comment. I hear you. Eating while studying is convenient, and it can be annoying to have to take a break when you’re on roll. However, we simply can’t allow lunch in the main parts of the library. It causes too many problems, the worst of which include cockroaches, mice, and piles of greasy, smelly garbage. GROSS!

Our job here at the library is to make sure you have the research tools and resources you need to get a great education. If we shift our focus to running a dining facility, you lose out on your education. There are lots of places to eat on campus; there’s only one library. Now that the café is open you have a dedicated space attached to the library to eat your lunch.

I’m wondering if making entry/exit through the bookmark cafe possible, allowing students to bring outside food into the cafe (via the cafe door) and having a manned circulation window in the bookmark cafe (as part of the main circulation desk where students can check out laptops, reserve materials, etc) would alleviate all the problems and complaints about [the food policy].

Thanks for your interesting idea. However the problem is not that students enter the café through the library, but that the café is entirely closed for renovations for the summer, leaving students with no library space for eating their meals. When the café reopens in the fall, a library dining area will be restored. Complaints about the food policy have died down considerably since the beginning of the summer, and we very much appreciate everyone’s willingness to comply with the rules until the café reopens.