Oak Ridge Public Library patrons no longer have to choose between their books and their coffee fix. Bud's Library Cafe has opened inside the library's east lobby, serving coffee, tea, breakfast sandwiches, bagels and pastries to visitors Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The new cafe is a satellite outpost of Bud's Farmhouse Coffee, the Oak Ridge Turnpike shop founded in 2021 by musician Anne Holland and her late husband, Jim Hynes, according to The Oak Ridger. Holland said, “We’re excited to bring Bud’s Coffee Shop into the Library and create another welcoming place for people to connect,” per the same report. The cafe project included renovation work inside the library.
From Empty Lobby to Coffee Counter
The renovation converted existing lobby space into a coffee bar with new casework, plumbing fixtures and equipment, flooring, paint and lighting, the Oak Ridger reports. The finished cafe sits on the east side of the library lobby at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike and was designed by Clark Nexsen with input from Holland. City officials, library staff and Bud's representatives are scheduled to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the library on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Library Director Julie Forkner said the cafe responds to patrons' long-standing request for convenient coffee, drinks and snacks, per the Oak Ridger's report. The city sought an operator through a cafe-services Request for Qualifications, according to its bid records.
Years in the Making
The idea for a library coffee bar did not emerge overnight. Conceptual plans to transform the lobby into a community gathering space with a coffee bar and art display area were developed by the East Tennessee Community Design Center in 2020, at the request of Forkner and the Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library. That early conceptual study proposed revising the lobby and relocating the circulation desk.
Library officials are asking visitors to purchase food and beverages from the cafe rather than bring in outside food and drinks, the Oak Ridger notes.
A Bittersweet Milestone for the Founding Family
The opening carries emotional weight for Holland. Hynes, her husband and co-founder of Bud's Farmhouse Coffee, died on June 18, four months before Bud's Library Cafe held its official opening. Hynes was a world-renowned New York trumpet player who recorded prominent television themes, including NBC's “Sunday Night Football” and “The Price Is Right,” before moving to Tennessee during the pandemic to open the original coffee shop with Holland, an opera singer, according to WBIR. The pair opened their original Oak Ridge Turnpike location in February 2021 when Broadway and live performance venues had shut down. Hynes had also played trumpet with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra and taught local youth musicians prior to his death, WBIR reported separately.
The original Bud's Coffee Shop at 1151 Oak Ridge Turnpike continues to serve coffee and tea beverages, breakfast sandwiches, bagels, pastries, homemade yogurt, granola and fruit spreads, per the Oak Ridger's account.
A Historic Building Gets a Modern Amenity
The library itself is no ordinary municipal building. Beyond its standard circulating collections, the facility houses the historic Oak Ridge Room.
The library welcomes 101,816 visitors a year. That scale of foot traffic suggests a built-in customer base for the new cafe.
Visitors can learn more about the cafe or the library's offerings by emailing [email protected] or visiting orpl.org, according to the Oak Ridger's reporting. For now, the ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning marks the formal civic recognition of a space years in the making — one that pairs the quiet work of archivists and historians with the simple comfort of a fresh cup of coffee.
