Mark’s Café in the basement of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library replaced its open shelves with vending machines earlier this week, prompting criticism from students.
Mark's Café was known among students as an easy on-campus store to steal from due to the open shelves and unsupervised self-checkout setup. The new machines require payment before accessing items, making stealing more difficult. The new vending machines also do not accept dining dollars as payment, as had been the case with the open shelving units.
The Daily Pennsylvanian was unable to confirm that concerns of theft are the reason for the change.
College sophomore Jackie Balanovsky said that she was “surprised” to see the recent change, adding that she will no longer patronize the cafe because it no longer accepts dining dollars.
“I think that it’s showing that the administration is having less and less trust with Penn community members,” she said, adding that she found it interesting that the change was made toward the end of the semester and close to the start of final exams.
Wharton sophomore Josiah Brock disapproved of the change, calling it a method for the University to protect profit and suggesting that "it makes it less accessible for people to get food quickly."
While Brock said that he had previously been spending $5-10 a week at the cafe, he added that he will “no longer be coming” to Mark’s Café. He also said that the shift to using vending machines will likely have an adverse impact on how often he goes, calling it “another negative against coming to Van Pelt.”
College first year Lynna Baah said that while she had previously gone to Mark’s Café every time she was at the library, she will now come less. She said that she wants a return to the open shelving setup, suggesting that the University should hire someone to stand in the cafe to remediate stealing issues.
Penn Dining, Facilities and Real Estate Services, and Penn Libraries did not respond to requests for comment.
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