The Friends of Mead Library provide the Library's volunteer work force. Members are involved with several projects and the following is a brief overview of their major volunteer projects:

1. Home Delivery – Volunteers use their personal automobiles to deliver books and other Library materials to City of Sheboygan residents and residents of the Sheboygan Area School District who are not physically able to visit the Library in person. This is done on specific days of the week, usually Saturdays. Another way to help with this project is to choose books for homebound readers. This is a fun job for booklovers!

2. Shelf Reading – Friends review and revise the shelf order of fiction books in the Popular Materials and Children's Services sections so that items are in proper order and can be found by members of the staff and public. Once a volunteer is trained, he/she may come in any time the Library is open and do shelf reading as their schedule permits.

3. "Give the Gift of Reading" program – This is a community service the Friends sponsored for the first time in the fall of 1993. Members raise money to purchase paperback books for children who participate in the library's Summer Reading Club.

4. Hospitality – Volunteers are needed throughout the year to serve refreshments at various Library and Friends functions.

5. Fund Raising – Volunteers raise money to support Library activities. Projects over the years have included art raffles, a holiday cookie walk, book sales, "Dinner with Friends" and the "A Tisket A Tasket" event.

6. Locating Reserve Items — There’s a new opportunity for Friends members who would like to volunteer at Mead Library. We are looking for volunteers to search for specific items that have been requested through the Library catalog. There will be training so volunteers will know where items are located and how to work with the list. We are looking for members who can make a fairly regular commitment for a few hours of work beginning about 8 a.m. any day, Monday through Saturday.

7. FMPL BOOKSTORE — The Bookstore is located at the far south end of the First Floor – right in front of the fireplace and quilt. The Bookstore is open for sales every single hour that the Library is open. On the 4th Saturday of the month, the Friends have a special sale within the area of the Bookstore. During the hours of the sale (9 a.m. – 3 p.m.) the Bookstore is staffed by Friend’s volunteers. We need Friends to maintain the inventory of the Bookstore, to work at the 4th Saturday Sales, to work at "Special" Book Sales that are held 2/3 times a year in the Rocca Meeting Room, and to help in the basement sorting area.

8. Miscellaneous projects and book processing — The Library often needs volunteers who can help with book processing tasks such as scanning barcodes of selected books. Another area is in local history projects. This may include tasks such as photocopying items using archival paper, for example.

How to Contact Us – You can contact the Friends at 459-3400, ext.5400. Leave a message and someone will get in contact with you as soon as they can.