Books, art supplies and Birkenstocks aren’t the only items found at the Campus Book Store anymore.

Now students who venture up to the fourth floor of the bookstore can indulge themselves with gourmet coffee, tea, chocolates and baked goods, while looking out over Lake LaVerne and the southern area of campus.

The Tanstaafl Cafe opened three weeks ago as a new location for students who want to get away from campus and relax. Mixed in with the general book collection, the cafe consists of a counter in the back of the room and several tables and chairs in the front.

The idea of coffee houses in book stores is not a new one. Christi Ross, Campus Book Store employee, said many larger cities offer the two-in-one combination. “It’s fairly common,” she said.

The name of the cafe was borrowed from a Robert Heinlein book. The cafe offers a wide variety of goodies to satisfy students’ cravings. Besides different flavors of coffee and tea, there is pop, chocolates, bars, cookies and other gourmet treats that are regular coffee house staples. The baked goods are provided by The Market restaurant, which is located downtown.

Although the entire cafe is located inside the store, she said outside seating might be a future possibility. Ross also said they would like to expand the cafe in the future.

In order for the cafe to open, the bookstore went through many changes. The art department, formerly located on the fourth floor, was moved to the basement, where the textbooks are located. The general reading collection was then bumped to the fourth floor with the cafe.

Ross said this new layout is actually more convenient because students can get all of the supplies for all of their classes at once. “It took us several days of everybody working hard, but it all fit rather well,” Ross said.

Campus Book Store employee Paul Gibson said the view of campus is one of the high points of the cafe. “There really is a beautiful view from these windows. Students can sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee while enjoying the view of campus.”

The cafe is open during regular Campus Book Store hours, and it will stay open throughout the summer. Since it opened so late in the year, Ross said, they didn’t have a “grand opening” celebration. That is a possibility for the fall, though, she said.

Ross and Gibson said the biggest problem they have had with the cafe so far is a lack of publicity. “Our biggest problem is that people don’t realize that it’s there,” Ross said.

“We think it’s going to be really nice, and we hope everyone will come and give us a try,” she said.