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New Café Opens at Main Library

By Andy Hart

August 29, 2013

The official opening of The Kitchen @ Hartford Public Library will be held today, August 29. The new cafe is adjacent to the main entrance of the Downtown Branch of the Hartford Public Library (HPL), 500 Main Street. The Kitchen will be open to the public from 8:00am - 4:00pm Monday-Friday and serve breakfast, lunch and café snacks.

In addition to giving library patrons a handy eatery, The Kitchen marks the start of an innovative new partnership between HPL and Billings Forge. This partnership provides a one-stop-shop for job training and permanent job placement for those who work in Hartford. Similar to Kitchen at Billings Forge, The Kitchen at Hartford Public Library is a farm-to-table job training café and bakery offering breakfast, lunch and catering. Additionally, the library’s second floor is home to a state-of-the–art teaching kitchen where café and library customers will soon have the opportunity to take cooking classes. “Bringing Billings Forge Community Works job training program under the same roof as the library’s CT Works @HPL initiative, a partnership with Capital Workforce Partners, was a natural way to offer Hartford residents increased access to job training, placement opportunities, skill development programming and other library resources,” said Matt Poland, HPL?Executive Director.