Despite the claims of frantic email rumors, popular campus coffee shop Moonbeans will not be packing up its espresso machines - at least not yet.

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Mae Ryan

Though Moonbeans’ five-year contract is coming to an end, the vendor may again bid for the space outside of Green Library. The University intends to use the space to serve coffee even if Moonbeans is no longer the vendor.

Though Moonbeans, which contracts its campus operations with Stanford Libraries, is coming to the end of its second five year contract, the snack-serving espresso house may not necessarily be going anywhere.

“This is the normal, natural end of a contractual relationship,” said Andrew Herkovic, director of Communications and Development for the Stanford Libraries, “which is not to say that it’s the end of the relationship with Moonbeans.”

The panic surrounding the possibility of life without Moonbeans surfaced on email chat lists, as a Moonbeans survey was emailed across campus.

“This [panic] is a complete misinterpretation of the facts,” Herkovic said. “I gather that this rumor situation has a lot to do with the fact that Moonbeans put out a survey of its customers. It really has nothing to do with the larger reality.”

“I’m really kind of tickled that the fear of Moonbeans going away created a little commotion,” he continued. “The libraries had to make some effort to get that building approved in the first place . . . and in a sense, it’s really gratifying that the students care enough about it to be worried.”

Students have, in fact, expressed quite a bit of concern.

“It was a surprise to me that they are considering closing down Moonbeans,” said Bowen Jiang ‘08. “Where are students going to get caffeinated on East Campus if there’s no Moonbeans?”

Rachel Wolfson ‘11 echoed this statement.

“I go to Moonbeans every day and practically live in the library,” she said. “I really don’t know what I would do without my Moonbeans fix.”

But Herkovic reassured The Daily that students will definitely be able to get their East Campus coffee in the future.

“The libraries and University have every intention of offering a coffee concession in the location currently called Moonbeans,” he added. “Whether it happens to be that company or another I don’t know. It depends on a bidding process . . . but that has nothing to do with the University forcing anything nor does it have anything to do with the continuing service of the coffee operation at that location.”

The important thing to take away, according to Herkovic, is that coffee will continue to be provided at that location and the only thing in question is who will be doing that providing.

“There is no plan to close the coffee shop,” added University Librarian Michael Keller.

“I like Moonbeans, I like their stuff, so I prefer Moonbeans over something else,” said Eric Boromisa ‘08. “But I prefer a coffee shop over some other function of that building. Given that there’s no CoHo [at the moment], [Moonbeans] fills the niche.”

Even if the coffee shop lives on as something other than Moonbeans, however, some students feel that it will not be the same.

“[Moonbeans] is more than just a coffee shop,” said Molly Spaeth ‘11. “It’s a meeting place, it’s a study break, it’s an ‘oh-my-god that was the worst IHUM section of my life’ chaser, it’s a community. If I didn’t have that kind of community — or the caffeine — my days at Stanford would be completely altered.”