Café D’Angelo: Building Community, One Cold Brew at a Time
Walk into the D'Angelo Law Library early morning on a Thursday and you’ll find something special brewing in the back conference room on the first floor. Students stream in and out of the tucked-away space for Café D’Angelo, a “homegrown” coffee event, created and run by Scott Vanderlin, the Law School’s instruction and outreach librarian.
“It’s the best part of the week,” said Hanna Skikne, ’27, a Café D’Angelo regular, “because Coffee Mess is in the middle of the week, but you still have to get through Thursday.”
“It’s literally the only thing that gets me to Friday,” agreed Jacob Gochias, ’27. “I genuinely come every week it’s available; I love it.”
The program starts at 8 a.m. and ends when the coffee runs out. And it’s always cold brew—served both hot (yes, heated up cold brew) and cold. (The cold brew process, which uses water that is less than hot, makes the coffee more mellow, explained Vanderlin, noting that adding hot water to coffee grounds extracts acids and bitter compounds.) An assortment of flavored syrups, creamers, and snacks also decorate the conference table. In the corner, a large screen highlights a different library resource each week, with printed materials—study supplements, past exams, research guides—often laid out for students to grab or peruse.
“I try to highlight a point of need that will be helpful to students at a particular time in the year, like sharing past exams during finals week,” explained Vanderlin. “Coffee is always the bribe, but the goal is to connect with students and get them to pay attention to the many resources we have in the library.”
When it first started in 2018, Café D’Angelo was more of a social event fueled by word of mouth and, of course, coffee. As it’s grown in popularity, it’s evolved to become more intentionally programmatic, and the communitybuilding aspect has proven to be powerful. These days, it’s safe to say that Café D’Angelo is a beloved new tradition; it’s even been incorporated into the Law School’s Orientation Program.
Library Director Sheri Lewis is proud to see how much the program has flourished. “Scott’s creativity and commitment to the student experience are the reasons for the success of Cafe D’Angelo and its establishment as a Law School tradition,” she said. “While undeniably Scott’s program, D’Angelo colleagues support and participate, as it is a source of pride for our community.”
Vanderlin, who is known by the students for his warm charisma and trademark humor, takes great care in making the weekly meetup fun and welcoming. “I love that I get to meet and get to know so many students this way,” he said. “I don’t expect everybody to have a library question every Thursday, but the way I see it, I’m lowering the bar for what it would take for them to come in when they do have a question. The more approachable I make myself and I make the library, the easier it’ll be for them to reach out when they do need our help, and the more they’ll get to know the library as more than just a quiet place to study.”
Vanderlin festively decorates the Café D’Angelo space for different seasonal occasions, such as Halloween and Valentine’s Day, much to the students’ delight. He views Café D’Angelo as a way to bridge the gap between the student body and the library. “Sometimes the ‘resource’ I share is not a typical resource, but something like words of encouragement that I might put on the screen. Because this is not a traditional library service, right? It’s just something that we can do to hopefully make the students’ lives a little better. If nothing else, to boost mood and morale.”
Before Café D’Angelo, Vanderlin tried other similar outreach initiatives, but none have been as successful. “We tried to do lunch talks, but that didn’t work well because you’re competing with so many other lunch talks happening at the same time. So then I thought, well, I love coffee, and outside of Coffee Mess on Wednesdays, there isn’t really another event for students to gather for coffee.”
The weekly touchpoint has been especially impactful for 1Ls, who, according to Vanderlin, are the most consistent demographic to engage with the program. They are the ones who have classes every single day and are most likely to be in the building in the early mornings, he explained.
While coffee is certainly the main draw for the students, stopping in to chat with Vanderlin is another top perk.
“Scott is wonderful,” said Ashley Zoeckler, ’27. “He keeps us informed of everything that the library offers, but most importantly, he keeps us caffeinated and full of laughter on Thursday mornings.”
“I love Café D’Angelo,” echoed Sarah Beisner, ’27. “It’s amazing; it really brightens up the morning. He always has these good syrups.”
