If you need somewhere to study near Mesa Community College, our shared workspace is on Southern Avenue, east along the same road from MCC’s Southern and Dobson campus, and it is free. There is no day rate, no membership and nothing to book. Buy a coffee and the desk is yours for the day.
Campus libraries fill up, and home is not always a place where anything gets done. This is what the room offers a student, and how to get the most out of an afternoon in it.
What you get
The workspace is its own room with full-size desks and proper chairs, which matters more than it sounds when you are writing an essay on a laptop for three hours.
The WiFi is fast and free, and it handles video calls, so an online class or a group call is fine. There is power at nearly every seat. If you need something printed, there is a printer in the workspace, and someone at the counter will sort you out.
You do not need to reserve anything to study. Walk in, order, and pick a desk.
Food that lasts a study session
The whole menu is served all day, so breakfast at two in the afternoon is a normal order and not a special request. There are sandwiches, breakfast burritos, oats and a bakery case, and there are vegan and gluten free options across the menu rather than one token item. The menu has the whole list and the prices.
For the cheapest way through a long session, there is cup ramen on the shelf with hot water at the counter. Our menu calls it the lunch that does not interrupt a work session, which is about right. On weekday afternoons there is also a happy hour on sandwiches, and the details are in the FAQ.
We ask that you do not bring outside food or drink in. Buying something here is what keeps the room free for everyone who studies in it.
Studying in a group
A study group of two or three can work at the desks, as long as you keep your voices down for the people around you. For a bigger group, or a session where you need to talk through problems out loud, the conference room seats ten around a table with power built in, and it has a screen and a mobile whiteboard. It is booked by the hour through Peerspace, which shows the current rate.
Taking a break without leaving
The library is the best part of the room to walk away to for ten minutes. Every book on the shelves was given to us by somebody who could say why they liked it. That is the only rule for donating one, and it means the shelves are full of books somebody cared about. The books stay here, so read one over a whole afternoon if you want to.
There is a community book on the shelf that anyone can write or draw in, and a shelf of board games for when the studying is finished.
A few habits that help
Most of what makes a study session work is the same anywhere. Decide what you are going to finish before you arrive, not after you have sat down. Put your phone somewhere you have to reach for it. Work in blocks with real breaks between them, and take the breaks away from the desk.
Bring the charger rather than relying on a full battery, and bring headphones even if you do not plan to listen to anything. They are the politest way of saying you are busy. There is more on this in how to stay productive working from a coffee shop.
Finding us
We are in the plaza on West Southern Avenue, with parking right outside. Our contact page has the map, the directions and our hours. Check them before you plan a late session, because we keep coffee-shop hours rather than library hours.
If you want to compare us with other places to work in Mesa before you come, our guide to the best coffee shops to work remotely in Mesa rates five of them, ours included.