A typical trip to the library for many college students involves cozying up with a textbook at the corner table. However, at one Library at Ohio State, there are neither books nor study tables.

The Library Bar, 2169 N. High St., opened in 1972 and has been in business ever since. Generations of OSU students and alumni have continued to congregate to the bar.

“Some of the same people have been coming here for 20 years,” said Dave “Cricket” Shaw, owner of the Library. “It’s just that kind of place.”

Because many bars on and around OSU’s campus advertise as dance clubs or sports bars, the Library prides itself on the fact that it has found its niche as a neighborhood bar. People can come to drink in a laid-back atmosphere without being bothered, Shaw said.

“I’d much rather come to a bar like this with my friends than go to a club where you’re constantly being hassled,” said Kathryn Strauss, a senior in business. “When I’m out with friends to have a few drinks and talk, I like to be able to hear them without music blaring.”

One reason the Library is successful is because Shaw knows what OSU students want in terms of a campus bar. He is an OSU alumnus himself, and finds new and different ways to make the Library stand out to the students and the neighborhood folks who are regulars to the bar.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to a bar that sold Jello shots or those cherries that are soaked in 151,” said Jocelyn Stewart, a senior in human development and family science. “Little stuff that makes it fun to come here.”

The Library not only features daily drink specials, but also has an abundance of activities for its customers to enjoy. There are televisions as well as pool and foosball tables, dart boards and arcade games.

During the Super Bowl, opening day of the baseball season and some OSU football games, Shaw and a few of the regular customers bring in or cook hot dogs, chili and other foods.

“The Library reminds me of some of the bars I go to back home,” Strauss said. “I like that opposed to other bars, because when my friends from home come to visit, I know I have a place to take them that they’ll like because it seems familiar.”

Since Shaw began working at the bar in 1979, he has seen the surrounding area grow and transform, but the Library has remained unchanged. Still, the future of the Library and other businesses in the area seems uncertain.

“I wish it was going to be there forever, but I think the powers that be, Campus Partners and the like will be on north campus soon,” Shaw said. “I am sure that my time will pass and I will be gone. I still will be a librarian forever.”