WATERLOO - A selection of used books, souvenirs and the rich aroma of coffee will debut this week at the Waterloo Public Library.

A nonprofit volunteer group supporting library activities will open a new gift shop just inside the library entrance, offering patrons the ability to buy everything from books to key chains to sweatshirts, and support the library in the process.

Taking a queue from large book stores, which increasingly couple their business with a Starbucks or gourmet coffee shop, the gift shop will be selling cups of coffee. It is slated to open Tuesday and run by the Friends of the Waterloo Public Library.

"We want to become more of a place where somebody's going to come and sit and read or browse," said Sheri Melby, director of volunteers and marketing at the library. "The coffee is a natural tie-in."

The library's Friends organization relies on donations and volunteers to help raise money and support projects enhancing the library. The Friends' large used book sales three times a year have raised a good share of money, but the previous gift shop - tucked away and hard to see - had not enjoyed much success over the past five years.

"It was just a counter and wasn't really visible," Melby said. "It was hard to get a volunteer to sit there for three hours with no traffic, so a lot of times it wasn't staffed."

The new gift shop, which was part of a lobby remodeling project, will be hard to miss.

"I think it's just wonderful, and it works because of the location," said Library Director Carol French Johnson. "And I think it will be a really nice thing for people to come in and drink coffee while they read."

The gift shop is expected to be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and it will be staffed by volunteers. The Friends group also plans to provide a more varied selection of used books and magazines for sale at the shop, providing a year-round service outside of the larger book sale events.

And Melby said the larger storage and rack areas at the new shop will allow her to display more of the Friends' large supply of used books, rotating them more often for potential buyers.

"The money that's spent all goes back to the library," she said. "It's almost like make a donation."

Tim Jamison can be contacted at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com.