Mead Public Library — Attraction in Sheboygan

I admit this review will be somewhat petty.

I'm not from this area, but I wanted to spend my day at a local public (free) library. I selected this one as my first option because it had around 160 reviews and a 4.6 star overall rating. The photos looked great, and I was truly excited to visit for the day. Alas, I never even made it inside. The PUBLIC (free) library has metered parking, so I reasonably decided to park elsewhere, then walk over. I drove for blocks. There are no adjacent blocks with parking options that aren't metered.

This is likely a common/expected thing for the locals, who think little to nothing of this issue. The library parking rate is $0.75 per hour with free parking beginning at 5 PM. So, if I was looking to stay from 11 AM until the free parking began, I'd be paying $4.50 to visit the Public Library. This isn't a great sum, but even if parking was only $0.05 for a day of parking, it's still a financial gate that undermines the library's status as being free.

Rant concluded. I've added some relevant parking-cost photos for your convenience. It's my goal to include as much necessary information as I continue reviewing locations across the country.

~Library details: There are three floors. I've included a floor-breakdown photo, which shows what you will find on each floor. I saw that they had book club kits on the first floor, and I adore this idea! The included binder organizes the books in different informative lists for your perusal. The kits seemed to contain 10-12 of a given book.

A designated quiet area with individual study rooms stood out to me on the 2nd floor. There were also various open tables, computer terminals, and other compartmentalized sections you can view on the earlier photo of floor breakdowns.

The 3rd floor was largely for the little ones. I didn't peruse this floor a great deal (due to my not having children accompanying me 😅), but it seemed like an enjoyable, colorful space. There were also 2 other rooms adjacent to the larger kids' library. There was a teen center as well as a business/confrence center called the Loft. I've included each's door information if you want further details.

☆The last photo is simply a door, though I'm not entirely sure it was actually there. 😅 It exists in the middle of a stairwell, between the 2nd and 3rd floor. It's unmarked and locked. Could someone else please advise if this door actually exists? It's just before the kids' floor, so I'm tempted to believe this is some sort of Narnia situation. 😂🤣

~Anywho, I hope you enjoy your time visiting the books!...

Its a beautiful library, 3 stories high. They have the 3rd floor dedicated just for children; books, dvds, snack rooms, and a little play land for small toddlers. The second floor has a room just for teens; bean bags, teen books, computers, and just all around cool room(: But my favorite place on the second floor has a HUGE study/quiet room that really never has people in it. Its got huge windows so you can study with just natural lighting and watch the sunset (its quite stunning) (: The first floor is just more books, audios, cds, and they have a section for books in large print (pretty cool). Also its handicap accessible. Oh, they've got computers on every floor as well. Why I went from 3-2-1 flooring layout is beyond me. All around huge library for the size of the city. But so many books, so little time. Anywho, hope...

We frequent many different libraries in different counties and this was the last library post Covid craze that brought their toys back out in the Children's section. I understand their thought process was "better to be safe than sorry" but other libraries brought their toys out much sooner and didn't seem to have a problem with sanitizing and cleaning them enough to be considered safe. This library does not have very many activities or events for kids/families compared to other libraries and they have metered parking during the week whereas the other libraries we visit don't ever charge for parking. My son and I will often drive an hour or more round trip to other libraries due to them offering more than Mead and it's disappointing because we would much rather frequent our local...