NYU Libraries Treats Trolley for Students

The NYU Libraries Treat Trolley is a way to help students during the stressful time of finals. The Treat Trolley is a set of library carts that provide a surprise snack during finals, reaching over 350 students each semester. The Treat Trolley is offered twice a semester (during the last week of classes and on Reading Days) and is facilitated by NYU Libraries staff and work study students.

To respect students’ work needs, the Treat Trolley is a completely silent transaction, where staff and students place down a menu card and a pencil, and students can indicate what they would like from the Trolley. Then the staff member picks up the menu cards and fulfills the order.

Typically, we offer students a library-friendly, non-messy snack, such as:

• granola bar

• a drink, like a LaCroix or seltzer

• ear plugs

• coloring pages and puzzles

• other surprises to help students to focus during this intense study period

We have run the Treat Trolley twice at Bobst Library, and we're thrilled with the feedback we get. Such as: 

• “Amazing idea, made my day!”

• “AWESOME!”

• “Thank you so much!!!! This service definitely brightened up our day, especially during a stressful finals season!”

Looking to the Future:

• We are looking to expand the number of students we can reach each semester with this additional funding, to buy more snacks and increase choices for students with varied dietary needs.

• We would also like to add other healthy options, like fresh fruit.

• There have also been requests from students for chocolate. Who doesn’t love chocolate?

Impact:

The Treat Trolley can reach over 350 students each semester! There has been a lot of conversation in the last year about the nationwide trend around food insecurity on college campuses. The NYU Libraries Treat Trolley helps to address this by offering students a free snack and drink at a time when they are stressed out about finals. It also saves them from having to give up a seat in the very busy library to get something to eat. Being able to roll this treat out to more students could be a small, positive way to uplift our community during finals.