By Craig Scott, Director, Gadsden Public Library
If you’ve visited the Gadsden Public Library around lunchtime, you may have noticed something special happening just beyond the bookshelves — the Beautiful Rainbow Café.
The Beautiful Rainbow Café is a remarkable partnership between the Gadsden Public Library and Gadsden City Schools. Opening its doors on Valentine’s Day in 2017, the Café has been serving more than delicious meals ever since. It serves opportunity, confidence, and pride!
Staffed by high school students with significant cognitive disabilities, the Café is a hands-on learning environment where students gain real-world job skills. Under the guidance and watchful eyes of Chef Chris Wood and Leita Conner, students learn kitchen and food preparation, customer service, teamwork, and cooking. Just as importantly, they learn how to greet customers with a smile, take pride in their work, and contribute meaningfully to our community.
The Beautiful Rainbow Café offers a vegetarian lunch menu, thoughtfully prepared by the students themselves. Lunch is served Tuesday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The two-hour window allows students time to return to the high school for their afternoon classes, balancing job training with their academic schedules.
After lunch service, the Café experience continues. Other students remain in the afternoon to serve delightful coffee and teas, along with the Café’s famous cookies and other sweet treats. It’s the perfect spot to take a break, catch up with a friend, or enjoy a quiet moment at the library.
This program is about more than meals — it’s about inclusion and empowerment. By housing the Café in the public library, students interact with a wide range of community members in a supportive, welcoming environment. Patrons, in turn, have the chance to support these students simply by stopping in for lunch or an afternoon treat and offering encouragement.
The Gadsden Public Library is proud to be part of a program that demonstrates what can happen when education, public spaces, and community partnerships come together. The Beautiful Rainbow Café reminds us that learning doesn’t only happen in classrooms and that libraries are places where lives are enriched in many different ways.
If you haven’t visited the Beautiful Rainbow Café yet, we invite you to stop by. Enjoy a delicious vegetarian lunch, a warm cup of coffee, or one of those famous cookies — and leave knowing you’ve supported something truly special in Gadsden, Alabama.
- Gadsden Public Library: 254 South College Street, downtown Gadsden (next to the U.S. Post Office). Phone: 256-549-4699
- Genealogy Branch: 2700 West Meighan Boulevard, Alabama City (corner of West Meighan and Wall Street). Phone: 256-549-4688
