Westerly — While described as a forward-thinking woman, Sallie Coy may have initially balked at the idea of having a coffee shop in her library.

Now, there is one named for her.

"She would've rolled over in her grave at the idea of food and drink in the library," Betsy Lathrop laughed, when asked what Coy would've thought of Coy Café in the Westerly Library. But she added that she would be proud the library is still going strong and "would've approved in the end, after being horrified."

Betsy and her brother John Lathrop, great-niece and great-nephew of Sallie Coy, were among the attendees at the soft opening of Coy Café on Monday morning.

The coffee shop, a project a couple years in the making, is named for the longest-serving director of the library.

"Are they going to have a Sally Coy roast? If so, it's going to be very strong, very tough, almost like an espresso," R.I. state Sen. Dennis Algiere joked.

Brigitte Hopkins, current executive director of the Westerly Library, said that Coy started working for the library in 1911 and served as director from 1930 to 1960. Her contributions included implementing the art loan collection and installing an elevator.

The space that is now Coy Café was Coy's office, before becoming the circulation desk and most recently a storage space. The café occupies a front corner of the library, with windows facing Broad Street and the walkway to the entrance.

The vendor is Wakin' Up Waggin,' which also operates the café at Savoy Bookshop & Café, a quarter-mile away.

Beverage options include Dave's Coffee, tea, espresso drinks, chai and Luluna kombucha on tap.

The café also sells biscotti, muffins, cookies, Kind bars, Purity Organic tea, Spindrift sparkling water, and $1 reusable straws.

The coffee shop hours will be the same as the library hours: Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Major benefactors of the café were Thomas and Cynthia Sculco, who helped provide some additional furnishings for the stately adjacent reading room. Food is limited to that room, but library patrons can bring covered beverages anywhere in the library.

The library hired Tecton Architects to design the café and Pariseault Builders as the contractor.

Hopkins said of the decision to open the café, "I think we were just trying to figure out how we could better use this space, and how we could better serve the community."

She said she feels it will work because Westerly is such a walkable town.

Karen Mellor, chief of library services in the State of Rhode Island Office of Library & Information Services, said that coffee shops in libraries are nothing new and she thinks the café will work well in Westerly.

"Where the Westerly library is, it's right downtown, so it makes sense for folks to be able to have a cup of coffee when they're at the library," she said.

Kate Byroade, president of the Connecticut Library Association, said that cafes in libraries have been a national trend for about 20 years.

She is the director of the Cragin Memorial Library in Colchester, which has a corner where people can pour themselves coffee for 50 cents.

As for outside vendors coming in to open a coffee shop, Byroade sees that at bigger libraries, like those in Hartford and Darien.

"It's been a sea change in our just general culture, that people are drinking water and coffee anywhere, on the go," Byroade said, "and libraries are changing with the times."

e.moser@theday.com