If you ask a Millsaps student if they know about Coffee Prose, the typical answer would be “yeah”. The local coffee shop/used bookstore is situated along N. West Street with bold blue and yellow exterior pops of color. Coffee Prose and Millsaps have facilitated a close tie with one another, which has been aided by their close walking proximity as well as Coffee Prose’s 5% student discount.
Many students have worked there and I myself completed an internship there during my senior year. The community feel became apparent to me when I first began working at Coffee Prose. The staff greeted customers and remembered regulars. Jacksonians stopped by to drop off unwanted books and then we got to leaf through them. Getting first dibs on newly donated books was a nice bonus, as was the free drink offered every shift. I interviewed fellow Senior, Mary Frances, on her time working at Coffee Prose. She also enjoyed the free shift drink and said that she would use it “to test out different flavor combinations and drink types”. Coffee Prose offers an impressive variety of flavors; I recommend the Heart of Darkness for it’s delicious mix of dark chocolate and raspberry. Mary Frances also mentioned that she “always appreciated the support” of her professors whenever they would stop by for a coffee.
As Millsaps is a smaller campus, there aren’t a lot of food or drink options on campus. Having a coffee shop so close by offers students an opportunity to get off campus to get a good coffee and some studying done. Mary Frances said that working at Coffee Prose “was a great opportunity to witness the growth of a business and its relationships with nearby institutions”. I agree with her. Coffee Prose has created a community space that conveys a love for where they are.