What makes a book cafe?

At Tweedle Book Cafe, one of the new and hip book cafes to open in Quezon City, Metro Manila. I've been here twice: the first was to check it out; the second was to read. And boy, did I read. So, I concur: it's a good place for book lovers to hang out. 

I will never make it as a food blogger. My inclination when my food arrives is to put it in my mouth. It only occurs to me to snap pictures after I've eaten maybe half of the dish.

So, this isn't Coffeespoons turning into a food blog. Rather, this is Coffeespoons finding its voice again and finding time to write again. And since book cafes are becoming a thing here in Metro Manila, I thought it would be a fitting confluence to talk about reading and book cafes in a blog called Coffeespoons.

I am a red-blooded reader. That means you tell me that there's a cafe that has a lot of books and purports to have an atmosphere that readers will love, I am there. But I've always been intrigued by the concept of a book cafe: is it more of a book store with coffee served on the side? (A friend used to own such a place. We spent many a happy hour there.) Is it a coffee/tea shop with books as a design element? What kind of events do they have there? Do they even have events or campaigns? Who do they really want to attract to their cafe: readers? people who study? people who just like good food? a combination of those three? And if it's a book cafe, do the customers bring their own books? How is reading encouraged? Is there a book community attached to it? Is it really just a business or is the reading advocacy strongly espoused?

I admit, perhaps these questions are too much when "reviewing" book cafes. Maybe for most of these cafes, the owners just really love books and also want to have a viable food business. And likely, for most of the customers, it's a joy enough to find a quiet place where one is surrounded by books. Lord knows that a quiet, bookish space with food galore is something that I often look for myself.

But since we're here, naming cafes that are perfect for book lovers, with book lovers like me making an effort to visit these places as though on a pilgrimage, I figure it's good to ask the question: what exactly am I looking for in a place that's perfect for book lovers?

Still at Tweedle. The ceiling has names of a few authors beloved to the owners, I suppose. Naturally, a big "Austen" is a plus for me.

So here it is, what I'd like to see in a book cafe. And this is not to say that all the cafes for book lovers don't have them already. (I wouldn't know. I haven't been to all of them and I haven't talked to any of the owners. Yet.) Also, this list is made with an awareness that this my list. Which means to say, what I look for may not be the same thing that you are looking for, which is perfectly fine if you ask me. But if I were to visit (or re-visit, as the case may be) the book cafes, these are the things that would make me say, "Yes, this place is perfect for a book lover like me."

• People who I can talk with about books. I don't care if they're strangers. Sometimes, it's better if they're strangers. Ideally, it would be the servers and proprietor themselves. 
• Something that tells me that the place doesn't love just books, but so obviously loves reading. A shelf stocked with books might not be enough. Maybe a shelf-talker. Or better yet, a board where people talk about their favorite book, recent read, a quote from a book, an argument even about a book character.
• Events for book lovers. Book discussions. Readings. A themed book night. Something that will help build a community of readers.

Bonus points:

• Lending books (Ok, this is just me hoping that some of these spaces can actually become libraries, seeing as there aren't that many lending libraries in the country anyway. But I acknowledge that "library" may not be the business model that book cafes are looking at.)
• Book donation programs for places that really need a book donation. (We're spending our time and money there anyway, why not ask people to donate a few of their older titles. Or maybe make a loyalty card where after they purchase, say, 10 coffees or something, they get another free coffee and a book gets donated to some children's library. I would suppose they just have to figure out the math behind a program like this.)

Again, perhaps I'm overshooting for these places. Maybe these things are better served by bookstores or libraries. Or maybe many of these cafes are doing these things already, unbeknownst to me. If they are, wonderful. If they aren't, it doesn't mean I'll stop giving them my business, or that I won't be making pilgrimages to the others I haven't been to yet. But I will go there likely thinking that--to this book lover--they could be so much more.