West Virginia University faculty, staff and students are invited to relax with a steaming cup of coffee at the grand opening of Eliza’s at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, on the fourth floor of the WVU Downtown Campus Library.

D.J. Casto, student body president, will join University officials for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. There will also be giveaways.

Eliza’s will offer espresso drinks, fresh-brewed Starbucks coffee, tea, hot chocolate, blended drinks to order, Italian sodas, bottled soft drinks, juice and water. Jumbo-size muffins, bagels, biscotti and oversized cookies plus a variety of healthy snacks will also be available for purchase.

Beverages in Eliza’s containers will be permitted in other areas of the library. Hours are Sunday-Wednesday 3 p.m.-midnight and Thursday 3-9 p.m. Eliza’s will be closed Friday and Saturday.

The library coffee shop, run by WVU Dining Services, is among a handful of campus facility improvement projects requested by the Student Government Association, Casto said. Other projects include a Burger King slated to open next month in the Mountainlair and a’Lair Vandalia Lounge makeover scheduled to begin in July.

The coffee shop is named after WVU ’s first professionally trained librarian, Eliza J. Skinner, who served as library director from 1897-1902. She is credited with, among other things, classifying the University’s library books according to the Dewey Decimal System, starting a dictionary catalog, abolishing a $2 deposit charged to borrow a book, instituting open shelves for books and establishing a faculty library committee.

In 1902, Skinner resigned to accept a position in the cataloging department of the Library of Congress.