One of the features of the Jefferson Public Library’s 75th Anniversary celebration this year was the introduction of a special coffee called Library Blend. It was the brainchild of a newly-minted librarian—Leo Castell. Leonel was awarded his library degree last year from the University of Southern Mississippi and has been working at JPL since 2018. He began as a floater, going from branch to branch, and then worked in the East Bank Regional circulation department. Now he is a reference librarian at the EBR Library.
During his undergraduate years, Leo worked as a barista at PJ’s coffee for 5 years. When he was about to graduate from UNO, he went to a career workshop. He was ready to submit his resumé when he saw a posting for Library Associate at the Jefferson Parish Library. Leo applied and was hired one month later. While working, he took one online course per semester until he earned his Master’s Degree.
Fast-forward to last year when the 75th Anniversary Committee began to plan for the library system’s celebration. Leo says, “As I understand it, (Library Director) Jessica Styons got the idea for the library to have its own coffee from an acquaintance she made who worked at Orleans Coffee. From there she suggested to (Committee Chair) Nicholas Caluda that we create a library coffee as part of the 75th Anniversary Celebration.”
Nicholas asked Leo to take on the project of developing a coffee for the library due to his background as a barista. Leo was quick to point out that he had no experience creating a coffee roast from the ground up. Nonetheless, he was up to the challenge. At Director Styons’ suggestion, he contacted Orleans Coffee and designed the coffee and the label on the 1-pound bag.
“I wanted something that would reflect the different attributes of the patrons of the library,” Leo says. He included dark chocolate to emphasize the seriousness and maturity of the library’s adult patrons while honey reflects the levity and sweetness of children. He also wanted simplicity— a simple name (“Library Blend”) and simple packaging with the JPL 75th Anniversary logo on the front. Leo meticulously arranged the colorful squares on the back label by hand to match the 75th Anniversary Logo.
Leo says, “The novelty of us having our own specialty coffee blend sort of sells itself, so I didn’t want any kind of fancy name or flashy packaging overshadowing that. I was striving for something a bit more minimal and elegant, but also clear: I didn’t want this coffee to be mistaken for anything other than the Jefferson Parish Library’s coffee roast.”
Leo’s description on the back label of the coffee makes it clear that he has accomplished what he set out to do. It reads, “Dark chocolate: a more complex kind of sweetness that’s subtle and promotes thoughtfulness; this note represents the maturity and focus that comes with adulthood. Honey: a sweetness that’s inviting and meant to make you smile; this note represents the liveliness and bright personalities of children and teens. These two flavors represent a convergence of ideas that makes our library what it is, a place that’s as at home with children having fun as it is with adults doing research, and everything in between!”
