Tucson and Pima County’s workforce and economic development have an important challenge: How do we create an ecosystem of innovation and enterprise that will keep more university students in town after graduation? How do we celebrate and strengthen the ventures already underway? There are opportunities, too. While the Cafés have been taking place, private and public investment focused on downtown has brought coworking spaces, maker spaces, and new businesses to the doorstep of Main Library. Over 300 nonprofits are based downtown, as are numerous artists and freelancers. All these groups are both our speakers and our audience. Since 2012, the goal of the Café is to start conversations and build connections through easy access to new ideas and the local people already experimenting with them.

The Cafés were sparked by SXSW, where innovative topics are discussed and the rooms are a mix of altruistic techies, nonprofits, and startups. The Cafés have successfully replicated that energy with the focus on local innovators. Topics are chosen for impact and interest, and library staff learn as we go. Our moderator prepares by researching the topic and creating support material; however, the discussion could go anywhere. Everyone is seated together in a circle that mixes featured speakers and the audience who came to meet them. Everyone is introduced: no PowerPoints, no lectures, no panelist table, no hierarchy.

We have learned that there is indeed overlap between the needs and interests of businesses, freelancers, and nonprofits, and that those realms benefit when programming is combined. As a result, our new Idea+Space was created for blended programming, mentoring, and support, and managed by a team created from formerly specialized departments. We have also learned that trust in the audience is seldom misplaced. It now feels incomplete to attend an event where the know-how and skills of the attendees are not acknowledged or even requested. We’ve had real impact too. Michael Ray, a regular attendee, incorporated Nurse Tree Arch as an L3C after learning about this new structure for social entrepreneurs at a Café. He is currently in the process of hiring his first employee.