Library to rearrange
Higher Grounds café to close
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A new chapter will begin soon for the Saratoga Springs Public Library as the Higher Grounds café closes, a new coffee shop opens and key library groups are given additional space.
Kimberlie DeSilva, owner of Higher Grounds, has been in the library for almost nine years, the longest- lasting vendor in that café space. She serves sandwiches, wraps, fresh salads, fruit and homemade baked goods, as well as coffee shop drinks.
DeSilva said she has enjoyed the sense of community at the library, watching senior citizens teach one another how to use their iPods and little kids with their noses pressed against the glass case, coveting the cupcakes.
But DeSilva has decided to retire. Her last day will be June 22.
“I’ve worked with some great people,” she said. “My staff is terrific, and the whole library community has given me great support.”
DeSilva’s planned departure has given Library Director A. Issac Pulver the opportunity to examine the library’s space and consider how best to meet service priorities.
During interim remodeling, the library board has always had a “pie-in-the-sky wish list,” Pulver said. A recent grant provided the means tomove forward.
One item on the list is expanding the Teen Room, a small area set up four years ago next to the café.
“It became immediately popular,” Pulver said. “And it became immediately too small.”
To give the kids and teen librarians Trevor Oakley and Sarah Derven more room, the trustees plan to divide the café in two, giving the northernmost section to the teenagers. Their old room will become a sorting area for the Book Bag Shop, which also needs more space.
“One of the shortcomings of this library is that it was built with a real lack of storage space,” Pulver said. “The Friends of the Library’s Book Bag Shop is in what was actually meant to be storage space. So we have a rental storage unit. There’s an amiable sort of turf war going on, since we all need more room.”
The old Book Bag Shop rooms will become partly storage and partly a new coffee shop. The café will be smaller than Higher Grounds but will still have plenty of seating, Pulver said. He hopes to open up seating on the patio outside that area and also hopes the same groups that now assemble in the café will meet in the coffee shop once it’s open.
“A coffee shop is a terrific service for us,” he said. “It enhances the library.”
Pulver does plan to scale back any eatery’s offerings.
DeSilva said she fears a smaller eating place will result in fewer patrons and a different atmosphere.
“The Saratoga Springs library is an awesome library and library experience,” she wrote in a letter to the board. “… Having a café is part of the enriching experience that patrons get to have when they come through the doors.”
The library is seeking a vendor to run the café in its current space from July through December. Construction is due to begin in January.
“We have mixed feelings about everything,” Pulver said. “We appreciate Kimberlie and are sad to see her go. At the same time, we’re glad to focus on service priorities and create better spaces for these groups.”