Students have been visiting D.H. Hill Library’s Creamery for three days, but the plans for its revenue are not yet permanent.

The Creamery, a joint venture between University Dining, the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences and D.H. Hill Library, was originally a concept between the library and the academic branch of the department, according to Gary Cartwright, coordinator of the food department’s dairy plant.

Rumors surfaced that University Dining forced itself into the partnership, but Cartwright said involving University Dining was an easy decision made after discussion between the two departments.

“We knew it was appropriate to bring in Dining,” Cartwright said. “[Dining] knows how to run a food operation.”

Rumors that the inclusion of Dining in the project led to the exclusion of the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences’ research into dairy and ice cream production aren’t true, Cartwright said, though he said the idea was an option the project had discussed.

“We actually considered using [the Creamery] as a collection point for testing and sensory lab work,” Cartwright said. “But the Creamery is really concentrating on high end ice cream and shakes.”

Cartwright said the revenue from the Creamery could eventually lead to an annex that could provide the space necessary for the department to conduct research, but for now, the Creamery was mostly a service for students.

“Anything that comes to our department we’re using toward building our annex.” Cartwright said.

Still, the issue of dividing revenue between the departments has gotten more difficult with University Dining aboard the project.

“Prior to [Dining] joining the partnership, we had talked about some resources coming back to the Library so we can maintin the quality of the environment,” Susan Nutter, vice provost and director of libraries administration , said. “We’re still working out that arrangement for the Creamery and how this is all going to work.”

Nutter said the arrangement between the LIbrary and Dining with the Hill of Beans coffee shop is set up where the Library collects a portion of the store’s revenue, and Dining even shares in the upkeep of the location.

“Dining paid for the renovations and conducted them to our specifications,” Nutter said. “And they give us money each year that we put into a scholarshp fund.”

Nutter said working with dining had been a beneficial partnership for the Library, and said she hoped the relationship would continue to be as fruitful.

“We’ve had a good experience with dining and I would hope to see that continue,” Nutter said, adding the library would like to use the revenue to maintain its facilities. “It has to continue because there is going to be a lot of wear and tear on the library, and we want to keep it fresh for the community.”

Nutter said she heard dining wouldn’t be able to share receipts in the same manner as it had with the Hill of Beans, but wasn’t sure if that was truly the case.

“I don’t know if that’s a new model,” Nutter said, “but I’m very optimistic that we can work this out.”

Still, Nutter stressed the purpose of the project had never been about money for the library.

“We didn’t go into it with the idea of making money,” she said. “We went into it because it was a department that would highlight an area where N.C. State shines.”

The issue of dividing the funds, however, is still not settled as students enter the first week of exams. David Hiscoe, the director of NCSU Libraries, said the decision to open the Creamery early may have been due to Nutter’s intent to have graduating seniors benefit from the new location.

“Susan Nutter wanted to make sure the students who were graduating this semester were able to try it out,” Hiscoe said.

Randy Lait, director of University Dining, said though the store is in its fourth day of operation there was no rush to determine how the money would be divided.

“It hasn’t been worked out yet,” Lait said. “Most of our discussions were about how to operate and make it happen, so we didn’t get into detailed arrangements. We were concerned mostly with serving students, not dividing money.”

Lait said he didn’t anticipate any issues with deciding how the business model would work after the Creamery’s opening.

“I don’t foresee it being a problematic situation,” Lait said. “There’s still plenty of time to work through these issues together.”

Lait said the expectations for the different entities involved were different, but didn’t see how any problems could arise in the future.

According to Lait, the Library expects to recover its investment and the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Science expects to recover its investment and share in revenue. Lait said dining’s goal was to enhance and create new opportunities.

“We take revenue and use it to pay bills and use money left over to build a new Port City Java or put new furniture in our locations,” Lait said. “I could see [there being issues] if we were three separate businesses or individuals investing in an ice cream store, but we’re three University departments.”

Still, Lait said the decision about profit division could have been made more of a priority during discussions.

“It could have been decided earlier and porbably should have been decided earlier,” Lait said.