Just a few years ago, we as a global and national community remember the beginning of quarantine, and everything that wasn’t considered an essential service was shut down. Restaurants struggled to stay afloat, and the struggle has only continued since we started opening nonessential businesses during the summer of 2021.
Unfortunately, my partner was one of the thousands of restaurant workers anxiously waiting to go back to work post-quarantine. Since his return to work in the summer of 2021, I have gained a unique perspective on some of the longer-term issues that our local restaurants have faced here in the Bay Area, specifically in the San Jose/Campbell/Los Gatos area. My partner has been in the restaurant industry for two decades now. One of the main issues that my partner and I have been discussing is the lack of trained/experienced employees such as servers, craft cocktail bartenders, and cooks with enough experience to meet the high-quality expectations of our fine dining and craft cocktail scene here in San Jose. The other major issue my partner has seen is the stark contrast between restaurant owners who are willing to develop inexperienced staff versus restaurant owners who will only hire staff with substantial experience. My partner has expressed frustration with the latter because many people had to move out of the Bay Area in order to survive the pandemic. Experienced employees couldn’t afford to stick around and wait to see if work would be available. Since things have reopened, many people who were not working in the tech industry and experienced employees have not relocated back and have opted to stay elsewhere. My partner and I agree that our local restaurant industry needs to have a period of rebirth, and rebirth requires restaurant owners to develop and mentor new and inexperienced staff.
After reading some of our course material, I was reminded of some of the ideas that my partner and I have floated around amongst ourselves about combining restaurants or bars with a bookstore or community library. I loved reading about the virtual cooking classes, the mobile teaching kitchen, and the culinary literacy center. Even though some of these programs had come to fruition before the pandemic, food literacy is still an issue we face here in the Bay Area. Even at my personal branch, I haven’t seen any programs related to food or nutrition listed on our calendars.
In my opinion, young people are the best group to target for these types of programs. Gen Z’ers, in particular, have been adopting a nihilistic view of the world, and the pandemic only exacerbated these feelings of doom and gloom (Coombs, 2022). While we can’t predict the future, and we can’t say that food and cooking classes will alleviate all the feelings of dread, what they can provide are role models and a sense of community. Young people want someone who cares enough to invest in them. By showing them that other community members care enough to show them essential life skills, they may choose to adopt a less nihilistic worldview.
Of course, all age groups will benefit from having food literacy classes. Young people who partake in these programs may possibly be inspired to look into a career in the restaurant industry. Restaurant workers are highly communal, and a possible partnership with local libraries feels like a natural combination that can be mutually beneficial. Restaurant workers are completely working class, and by partnering with local libraries, they themselves will be able to learn about what libraries can offer them in return. I say this because as I was preparing for my transition into graduate school, I was telling many of my partner’s coworkers about my goal of becoming a librarian. Most of them didn’t realize that a person needed a Master’s Degree to become a librarian, and some of them even felt my change in direction might turn into a fruitless labor. These conversations not only showed me the disconnect between these two communal industries, but they also pushed me to continue my endeavor, and I hope that I will eventually find the resources to bring these two industries together. I don’t have any concrete plans for this yet, but seeing these existing programs gives me inspiration for when I finish my MLIS program.
References:
Blog: Come see What’s cooking: Announcing our new Culinary Literacy Center! (n.d.). Free Library of Philadelphia. https://libwww.freelibrary.org/blog/post/2006
Coombs, C. (2022, May 17). Explaining Gen Z’s unsurprising adoption of nihilism. Thred Website. https://thred.com/culture/offbeat/understanding-gen-zs-expected-uptake-in-nihilism/#:~:text=Climate%20change%2C%20political%20turmoil%2C%20growing%20wealth%20inequality%2C%20and,trends%20have%20caused%20a%20rise%20in%20nihilistic%20attitudes.
Dankowski, T. (2019, April 23). A Movable Feast | American Libraries Magazine. American Libraries Magazine. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/09/04/movable-feast-library-mobile-kitchens/
How a restaurant-library partnership made food and culture accessible. (2021, December 28). CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/underground-flavour-group-and-kpl-1.6294810?fbclid=IwAR1E-
Hi Melissa,
Thank you for sharing your ideas about combining restaurants/bars with a library or bookstore. I remember walking past a cozy bar, that had bookshelves filled with books (I wish I remembered where I saw this, but it may have be somewhere in SF). It was the kind of place where you could enjoy reading a book while sipping on a glass of your favorite wine or cocktail. I loved the idea! As far as food goes, I see so much potential for libraries. As a foodie, I would love to see libraries pair cultural celebrations with food from that culture (maybe using food trucks or having existing restaurants provide the food). It would be such a great way to create community.
@kauthmeister Really appreciate the ideas you share regarding culinary literacy and libraries. Our area had similar during the pandemic where people could not wait out the return of many of the restaurants. Your idea about focusing on young people really resonates as well. I think Traverse City library and all the folks working in hospitality here might benefit from this type of a partnership.