Ohio State coffee drinkers will soon have a new place to get their caffeine fix.

Java Master, a coffee shop which also has stores in the Columbus City Center downtown and the Columbus Metropolitan Library, will be up and running in the Main Library within the next four weeks, said Martin Higgins, Java Master spokesman and OSU senior in journalism.

Higgins said the idea to open a shop in the library came to him in 1997, when he returned to OSU as a student.

“I noticed there was nowhere to get a cup of coffee on central campus, except in the basement of the Wexner Center or Oxley Hall,” he said. “It’s not convenient to walk all the way to High Street.”

In 1998, he made a proposal to open Java Master in the library, but the former library director did not agree with the plan.

Joe Brannon was appointed as the new library director in 2000, and he liked the idea, Higgins said.

The coffee shop will be located on the left-hand side of the main entrance, in the room adjacent to the computer lab on the first floor.

The plan is to remove the large tables presently in the room, and replace them with smaller tables. Tables will also be placed outside on the patio area and the locked doors there will be unlocked to provide a direct entrance to the shop, according to Higgins.

“The idea was to model it after European-style cafes,” Higgins said. “People can sit outside when the weather is nice.”

He said the menu will consist of mainly coffee, juice drinks, iced coffee drinks and espressos. There will also be a small selection of snack foods such as muffins, cookies and filled croissants.

Because the library has a policy against drinks not in a spill-proof container, Java Master offers inexpensive mugs that will be permitted in the library.

The construction of the shop was all completed off-site; they are modular units which can easily be put together. Higgins said he had it built this way to cut out loud construction noise in the library.

“The only construction that will be done in the library is the wiring and plumbing, which should only cause minimal amounts of noise,” he said.

Higgins said the coffee shop will offer its refreshments at competitive prices, and more reasonable than Starbucks.

Lisa Pillow, a librarian, said the coffee shop will be a good thing for the Main Library because many students think of the library as an intimidating place, and the shop will make the library more welcoming for students.

“Overall, I think it will give the library a social facelift,” Pillow said.

Java Master is renting the space from the university.

The shop will try to be open the same hours as the library for at least the first month, Higgins said.