As I sit writing in Woodrack Cafe on 109 Street and 76 Avenue, there are thirteen people in the space, only five of which are not reading or working. It was after many afternoons spent studying and working in coffee shops that I started wondering about this phenomenon. Why are coffee shops a special place where we can sit for hours, only spend a few dollars, and immerse ourselves in a book or writing a paper? What is it about a coffee shop environment that causes us to pay to work or read when there are office spaces in our own homes or workplaces that accommodate the same things for free: a table or desk to work on and a cup of coffee or tea that we can hold while we work?
To try to understand the coffee shop reading culture, I asked five of my good friends (all of whom are coffee shop regulars) some questions. Some would identify themselves as “coffee snobs” and some simply just like coffee shops, like myself. I started my research by simply asking my friends to identify their three favourite coffee shops in Edmonton and explain their choices. I was expecting quite a bit of overlap between their top choices, but that was not the case. However, the reasons for their answers were similar. Included in their top choices were multiple Starbucks locations, Remedy, DaCapo, Transcend, 3 Banana Cafe, District Coffee, Cafe Leva, Cafe Bicyclette, Iconoclast, Woodrack, Cafe Bogani and Wild Earth Bakery. The reasons for their selections had a lot to do with atmosphere: big windows, reasonable air conditioning or cool decor. Ironically, only one stated good coffee as the reason for her favourite spots, and it was the self-identified coffee snob.
The atmosphere is an important part of the coffee shop reading culture, as coffee shops offer a unique social experience that cannot be attained elsewhere. Coffee shops are intentionally built to be an extension of the home. Chairs are not necessarily assigned to tables and there are unique seating areas, often complete with a sofa or some other comfortable chairs. There is an unspoken understanding that the furniture can be moved to better serve your needs. Coffee shops are spaces that allow customers to be at their most comfortable and productive, instead of pushing them through a purchase for maximum financial gain. There is a mutual understanding that the spaces within coffee shops should be lived in and made comfortable.
Coffee shops simulate familiar reading and living spaces found in the private sphere and transplant them into the public sphere. Perhaps the arrangement of couches and chairs reminds customers of their own living room, and so creates a sense of home. People meet friends and are more inclined to talk to someone at the neighbouring table than they would be at a restaurant. Tables are usually different sizes and maybe even heights to facilitate the studier, the business meeting, the reader, and the visit between friends. These simple design components create a space that has a sense of being both comfy and flexible, allowing the customer to really dig into whatever book they are reading or project they are working on without the stiffness found in other places of business.
When looking at the top three selections, I noticed there was a pattern regarding the proximity of their choices to their schools or workplaces. These selections were obviously a regular part of their school or work day and their student culture. Coffee shops become a way for us to connect with our communities and also feel like we are a part of them. They also provide a glance into the community. For example, shops like Good Earth or Cafe Leva will often have students present due to their proximity to the university. Starbucks locations farther from campus and Cafe Bogani near Century Park have a higher likelihood of having high school students, business people, and only the occasional university student.
I asked my friends what they would be most likely to read in a coffee shop. They all said that they would probably be reading textbooks, doing other school work, or personal reading, although in the form of a socially acceptable text, meaning something other than a Harlequin romance, for example, or some other book that may be described as a “light read” or otherwise looked down upon. We judge people, often unintentionally, according to what they read, and my friends acknowledged this in their answers. They all stated how the work that they bring into the public space will be judged, so it needs to be at a certain level of quality or difficulty in order to maintain their reputation in the eyes of strangers. Coffee shops can serve as a connection to the community, but part of this community formation is constituted by the way patrons project an idealized image of themselves through their work or the books that they bring into the public space.
Other forms of shared reading are also important at coffee shops. Flyers are often posted, a fundraiser jar may be present for a local cause, or one might find advertisements for sales at various local businesses, such as photographers or artisans. Again, in a different form, these are opportunities to connect to others and participate in or further a sense of community.
I also asked my friends whether they are likely to be alone or with other people when reading in a coffee shop. Again, they said that it depended on what they were reading. If it was schoolwork, there was a balance between collective and personal reading. If it was leisure reading, it was more likely that they would be on their own. Importantly, many coffee shops create a space where it is acceptable to sit alone, taking up a whole table or seating space, and read a book for hours on end. This seems like a backwards business model, but it is part of what makes coffee shops so successful; the ability to be out in the community while being productive, or not, depending on one’s own interests.
In my visits to coffee shops, I took note of the kinds of reading material available. In the chain shops (such as Starbucks), I was more likely to find mass-manufactured materials like major newspapers or business flyers. In the independent shops, like Woodcock Cafe and Block 1912, they might have a small selection of newspapers, but most had a take-one-or-leave-one book library. Bringing a bookshelf into the coffee shop also contributes to a familiar home-like atmosphere; and of course the exchange system may facilitate relationships based on shared reading experiences. The kinds of books available at these book libraries were very popular reads, such as Danielle Steel, Stephen King, and Nora Roberts, as well as various celebrity memoirs. Whenever I checked these libraries there were slightly different books available—evidence that people use them regularly.
After analyzing my friends’ experiences with coffee shops, I took a closer look at my own experience with them, as well as that of my sister, as a point of comparison. I realized that I never took advantage of coffee shops as a place to read until I came to university. In my first year of study, I lived in an uncomfortable space and found that I regularly completed my work at a local coffee shop because I was more productive there than at home. The bright light, atmosphere, and confines of working in the public space allowed me to be more efficient. Similarly, my sister spent many hours during her undergrad at McGill University in coffee shops. Upon moving back home, she found that she could not work or read as effectively and enjoyably at home and would regularly take special trips into the city solely to work in a coffee shop. Apparently, the coffee shop can be both highly productive and somewhat addictive, with the caffeine alone, which might be had at home, clearly not sufficient to explain the pattern.
In short, coffee shops provide a unique reading space. Each shop has its own quirks that contribute to its success. The coffee itself seems to matter less than the atmosphere. Such spaces can be used in any number of ways. Coffee shops provide an opportunity to connect to the community, to work, to lounge, or whatever—and this flexibility, this sense of free space, seems to be a defining factor. And yet, perhaps most importantly, although we may feel our true selves at home, coffee shops, with their bookshelves, easy-listening music, movable furniture and cozy fireplaces, may seem not merely an extension of our homes, but a version of the sort of reading space we would like to have in our home.
