OUR HISTORY

Giving has always been an integral part of MEAD PUBLIC LIBRARY’S HISTORY. Its very creation was inspired by a gift from Sheboygan banker and industrialist James H. Mead in 1897. Its development to a full-service library was enhanced by solicited funds from Andrew Carnegie in 1904, which enabled the board to construct the library building on 7th Street and New York Avenue.

Throughout the years the operating expenses of the library have been generously cared for via public funds. In 1939, when an American Library Association study concluded that additional space was needed, it was James Mead’s bequest to the library that provided the necessary money to enlarge the library.

And by the late 1980s, when the library was set to grow once again, it led to the formation of the Mead Public Library Foundation to solicit private funds to expand the library and to establish an endowment fund for the library’s future.

The history of Mead Public Library is not only one of receiving, but also of giving to the city, as well as the entire Sheboygan County community.